P ac ice Pape
Recommended ci a ion: Gue ne, M. G., Mülle , K., Block, B.-M., & Hege , J.
(2025). De eloping Sus ainable Concep s o he Tex ile Indus y Using P oduc ion
Simula ion – A P oblem-Based Lea ning App oach. In Kangaslampi, R., Langie,
G., Jä inen, H.-M., & Nagy, B. (Eds.), SEFI 53 d Annual Con e ence. Eu opean
Socie y o Enginee ing Educa ion (SEFI), Tampe e, Finland. DOI:
10.5281/zenodo.17631230.
This Con e ence Pape is b ough o you o open access by he 53 d Annual Con e ence
o he Eu opean Socie y o Enginee ing Educa ion (SEFI) a Tampe e Uni e si y in
Tampe e, Finland. This wo k is licensed unde a C ea i e Commons
A ibu ion-NonComme cial-Sha e Alike 4.0 In e na ional License.
DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE CONCEPTS FOR THE TEXTILE
INDUSTRY USING PRODUCTION SIMULATION – A PROBLEM-
BASED LEARNING APPROACH
M. G. Gue nea,
1
, K. Mülle a, B.-M- Block a, J. Hege a
aLeuphana Uni e si y, Luenebu g, Ge many
Con e ence Key A eas: Sus ainabili y and socie y in enginee ing, Digi al ools and
AI in enginee ing educa ion
Keywo ds: P oblem-based Lea ning, Simula ion, Sus ainable Enginee ing, Tex ile
Indus y, Enginee ing Educa ion
ABSTRACT
This p ac ice pape desc ibes he implemen a ion o a p oblem- based lea ning
app oach ha deals wi h he mul i ace ed p oblems o he ex ile indus y. The e o e,
an in e disciplina y module was implemen ed ha deals wi h he opics o he ex ile
alue chain, sus ainabili y and p oduc ion simula ion. The s uden s de elop solu ions
o inc ease sus ainabili y in he ex ile indus y and use simula ion so wa e o es
hei ideas. To ensu e success ul s uden ou comes and o espond o he indi idual
p og amming ques ions o he s uden s, cons uc i e eedback and dialogue we e
key elemen s o he semina . The semina is de eloped using he design-based
esea ch app oach. Wi hin he scope o his pape , he i s implemen a ion o he
designed lea ning app oach is desc ibed and e iewed based on s uden and
eache eedback.
1 INTRODUCTION
The ex ile indus y is one o he oldes and mos op imized indus ies in he wo ld
and con inues o be an impo an economic ac o (Feldbaume e al., 2023;
Wünsche e al., 2025). The ex ile indus y gene a es an annual u no e o hund eds
o billions o dolla s and employs millions o people (Wünsche e al., 2025). Howe e ,
he ex ile indus y causes many en i onmen al and social p oblems along i s supply
chain: excessi e esou ce consump ion, en i onmen al pollu ion and o en
p eca ious wo king condi ions a e jus some o he nega i e side e ec s (S amm e
al., 2019; Wünsche e al., 2025).
1
M. G. Gue ne
gillian.gue [email protected]
I is es ima ed ha he ex ile indus y is esponsible o 20 % o global wa e
pollu ion (Eu opean Pa liamen , 2024). E e y yea , 1.7 billion ons o CO2 a e
emi ed by he sec o (WWF, n.d.). Fo e e y on o inished p oduc p oduced, 200-
350 m3 o con amina ed was ewa e is gene a ed (S amm e al., 2019). The iden i ied
challenges in he ex ile indus y highligh bo h an u gen need o ac ion and
signi ican po en ial o inno a ion. The e o e, an elec i e module was designed and
implemen ed. Unlike adi ional eaching me hods ha mainly ely on heo e ical
ins uc ion, his module in oduces an inno a i e app oach by engaging s uden s wi h
eal-wo ld p oblems. By in eg a ing p og amming skills using AnyLogic simula ion
so wa e, he module os e s p ac ical, in e disciplina y p oblem-sol ing ha p epa es
s uden s o complex challenges.
The pedagogical app oach includes p oblem-based lea ning (PBL), which is
pa icula ly cha ac e ized by lea ne -di ec ed and sel -mo i a ed s uden lea ning.
The semina hus con ibu es o sus ainable educa ion. Mo eo e , he semina
add esses and p omo es SDG 6, 8, 12 and 13 by:
- making he ex ile supply chain mo e en i onmen ally iendly and o e ing
consume s mo e sus ainable p oduc s (SDG 12),
- ai wo king condi ions and ai wages (SDG 8),
- de eloping concep s on how o use wa e esou ces mo e e icien ly and ea
was ewa e in a way ha he su ounding ecosys em is no pollu ed (SDG 6).
The module aims a s uden s om all deg ee p og ams and he e o e in ends o
s eng hen in e disciplina y eamwo k, p e en silo hinking and p omo e holis ic
app oaches o solu ions. An o iginal pe spec i e and he acquisi ion o impo an
skills will be p omo ed by analyzing p oblems using p oduc ion simula ion. To his
end, he me hodology, design and implemen a ion o he semina will be in oduced
in sec ions 2 and 3. Two solu ions de eloped by s uden s o a mo e sus ainable
ex ile indus y a e p esen ed as examples. In sec ion 4, he eedback and po en ial
o imp o emen o he in e en ion will be discussed. Sec ion 5 summa izes his
wo k and gi es an ou look o u he applica ion o he designed semina .
2 DESIGN-BASED RESEARCH APPROACH
The me hodological app oach chosen o he design and implemen a ion o he
module was Design-Based Resea ch (DBR) as ou lined by McKenney and Ree es
(2013). This app oach aims o gene a e esea ch-based insigh s ha imp o e bo h
heo e ical unde s anding and pedagogical p ac ice (McKenney & Ree es, 2013;
Kelly, 2013). The p ocess consis s o h ee in e ela ed phases: Analysis, Design and
E alua ion. These phases a e in e dependen and equi e he applica ion o speci ic
me hodological s a egies. Con inuous eedback loops allow o con inuous
e inemen and adap a ion (McKenney & Ree es, 2013).
In he analysis phase, he p oblem is analysed and de ined (McKenney & Ree es,
2013). The au ho s iden i ied a gap in he cu iculum a Leuphana Uni e si y. Du ing
lec u es, s uden s we e asked abou hei in e es in a module ha uses simula ion o
add ess p oblems in he ex ile indus y and he esponses we e posi i e. The aim o
he semina is o p o ide bo h enginee ing and non-enginee ing s uden s wi h
in e disciplina y knowledge abou he ex ile indus y. In his way, non-enginee s
should also be in oduced o he me hods and possibili ies o enginee ing p ac ice.
In he design phase o he DBR model, a concep o an educa ional in e en ion o a
lea ning en i onmen is c ea ed, implemen ed and es ed. A eaching concep on
ex ile indus y is de eloped. The aim o he module is o s uden s o de elop and
simula e solu ions o p oblems in he ex ile indus y. To achie e his, s uden s
should lea n how o use speci ic so wa e ools and amilia ise hemsel es wi h he
PBL app oach. Ba ows (1986) de ines PBL as a lea ning me hod ha uses eal-li e
p oblems as he basis o acqui ing knowledge. Sol ing hese p oblems helps
s uden s build compe ences and skills ha a e ele an o p o essional p ac ice. PBL
has se e al ad an ages: I inc eases s uden mo i a ion by posi ioning hem as
ac i e pa icipan s in he lea ning p ocess, i enables s uden -di ec ed lea ning, i
os e s eamwo k and imp o es collabo a ion skills and i p omo es a s uden -
cen e ed app oach ha ans o ms lea ne s om passi e ecipien s o ac i e,
esponsible and au onomous pa icipan s (Ba ows, 1986; Amol, 2020; Williams,
2016).
This inno a i e, in e disciplina y semina has i e main lea ning goals, guided by he
six le els o Bloom’s Taxonomy (Ma zano & Kendall, 2007): Knowledge,
Comp ehension, Applica ion, Analysis, Syn hesis, and E alua ion:
1) Acqui ing knowledge along he ex ile alue chain, p oduc ion and logis ics
simula ion,
2) Add essing p oblems along he ex ile alue chain,
3) De elopmen o sus ainable and u u e-p oo p oduc ion concep s,
4) P og amming and analyzing wi h AnyLogic so wa e o model and simula e
he de eloped concep s.
5) E alua ion he de eloped concep
S uden s a e p epa ed o PBL using he Case Me hod, in which hey ecei e a case
s udy and conduc esea ch in p epa a ion o class oom discussion. This eache -
led ins uc ion is ollowed by oppo uni ies o s uden s o iden i y own p oblems and
engage in independen , p oblem-based wo k. This includes ac i e explo a ion and
e alua ion o he p oblem, suppo ed by he eache ’s men o ing (S en o , 2019).
Finally, in he e alua ion phase, he implemen a ion o he module is analysed,
assessed, and e ined. S uden eedback is collec ed h ough a pos -cou se su ey.
3 CONTEXT AND PRACTICAL WORK
3.1 Con ex o he Semina
This in e disciplina y semina a ge s s uden s om all disciplines in e es ed in
sus ainable and u u e-p oo ex ile p oduc ion, wi h a pa icula ocus on p oduc ion
and logis ics simula ion. While i is designed p ima ily o enginee ing s uden s, he
semina also aims o in oduce non-enginee s o undamen al enginee ing me hods,
especially in he con ex o digi aliza ion and sus ainabili y. The scope o he semina
is summa ized in Fig.1.
Fig. 1. Scope o he in e disciplina y semina app oach.
The semina p o ides s uden s wi h a comp ehensi e o e iew o he ex ile alue
chain, om aw ma e ial ex ac ion o he inal p oduc , emphasizing ma e ial
p ope ies, p oduc ion p ocesses, and sus ainabili y issues such as he EU ex ile
s a egy. Key me hods include lec u es, a lipped class oom app oach and a ma e ial
quiz. S uden s a e exposed o eal-wo ld ex ile supply chains and hen conduc
independen esea ch on he supply chains o selec ed case s udies. This esea ch
becomes he ounda ion o a c ea i i y wo kshop whe e s uden s de elop inno a i e
concep s o imp o ing he sus ainabili y o hese supply chains.
S uden s a e in oduced o p oduc ion and logis ics simula ion. They analyse ele an
esea ch s udies and gain hands-on expe ience wi h AnyLogic h ough wo o icial
u o ials (AnyLogic, 2025a; AnyLogic, 2025b). Since all s uden s ha e comple ed a
basic p og amming cou se (DATAx) in Py hon, he semina does no co e gene al
p og amming, bu i does include a heo e ical and p ac ical in oduc ion o he
AnyLogic simula ion en i onmen . G oup p ojec s o m he co e o he p ac ical
phase. Suppo ed by indi idual coaching, s uden s de elop hei own simula ion
models based on hei edesigned supply chains. The semina concludes wi h a 15-
minu e p esen a ion and a 15-page w i en epo pe g oup.
This semina design p epa es s uden s o u u e wo k in sus ainabili y o sys ems
hinking. The s uden s lea n o p og am wi h a new so wa e ool. As we now li e in a
digi alized wo ld, p og amming is a cen al componen o mode n enginee ing
educa ion. Fu he mo e, he s uden s e lec on he exis ing app oaches in ex ile
supply chains and e hink hese by de eloping al e na i es. This p ocedu e can
easily be ans e ed o o he indus ies and supply chains.
3.2 P ac ical Implemen a ion
The semina was i s implemen ed in he summe e m o 2024 as pa o he
Leuphana Bachelo complemen a y s udies p og am. Pa icipa ion was olun a y
and limi ed o 35 s uden s. In i s i s un, 35 s uden s en olled and 21 success ully
comple ed he semina , esul ing in a 40 % d opou a e. Pa icipan s ep esen ed
di e se ields such as enginee ing, sus ainabili y s udies, in e na ional business,
digi al media, in o ma ion sys ems, and cul u al s udies. The semina ollowed a
hyb id schedule: weekly 90-minu e sessions o heo e ical g ounding and coaching,
and a wo-day block semina . The i s day o he block semina ocuses on
sus ainabili y in he ex ile sec o , while he second concen a es on simula ion
concep s and p ac ical aining using AnyLogic.
AnyLogic so wa e was selec ed due o i s unique in eg a ion o disc e e e en ,
agen -based, and sys em dynamics modelling wi hin one so wa e. Al e na i es o
he simula ion o p oduc ion and logis ics p ocesses could be MATLAB/Simulink,
Siemens Plan Simula ion, Simio o A ena. The easons why we decided o use
AnyLogic a e especially he Pe sonal Lea ning Edi ion, which is ee o cha ge and
can easily be ins alled and used on a compu e , as i does no ha e any special
ha dwa e equi emen s. One limi a ion o AnyLogic so wa e is ha i is ja a based.
Use s un amilia wi h Ja a may ace a s eep lea ning cu e (AnyLogic, 2025a).
Howe e , due o he possibili y o use La ge Language Models o p og amming
suppo and he AnyLogic Help websi e, i is possible o he s uden s o deal wi h
his limi a ion. To adap ou concep o o he classes, we ecommend he u o ials on
he AnyLogic websi e (AnyLogic, 2025b). A e he block semina he s uden s wo k
in g oups on hei p ojec s, while he weekly semina se es as indi idual wo k phase
o coaching session wi h cons uc i e eedback and dialogue.
3.3 Exempla y S uden Wo k o he P oblem-Based-P ojec s
The a ie y o app oaches de eloped exceeded ou expec a ions. Two selec ed
app oaches will be in oduced sho ly in he ollowing.
One app oach examined he wool washing p ocess as pa o he wool ya n
p oduc ion. This p ocess is e y ene gy in ensi e and consumes a lo o wa e . The
s uden g oup buil a simula ion model o he cu en wool washing p ocess and a
model o he inno a i e app oach using ul asound desc ibed by Bah iya i & Du an
(2013). Wi hin a simula ion s udy o bo h p ocesses hey compa ed he ene gy and
wa e consump ion as well as he washing ime o bo h p ocesses. The esul s o
he simula i e s udy show, ha he ene gy consump ion can be educed by 19.3 %,
while he wa e consump ion and he washing ime can e en be educed by 40 %. A
sec ion o he simula ion models in AnyLogic, showing he o e iew o he measu ed
key pe o mance indica o s is shown in Fig. 2.
Ano he app oach analyses he po en ial educ ion o CO2 emission in silk ade
h ough bio eac o s. This app oach claims ha silk p oduc ion cu en ly has high CO2
emissions due o long anspo a ion ou es. The eason o he long anspo a ion
ou es is he geog aphical sepa a ion o p oduc ion and consume ma ke s.
Fu he mo e, animal su e ing in adi ional silk p oduc ion poses a signi ican e hical
challenge. Thousands o silkwo ms die du ing he cocoon boiling p ocess o p oduce
silk (Ka hik & Ra hinamoo hy, 2017). The app oach o sol e hese p oblems is o
p oduce silk in bio eac o s. These can p oduce silk close o he consume s o educe
he anspo leng h and p e en animal su e ing o he silkwo ms. The e o e, a
simula ion model o bo h anspo ou es is designed and a simula ion s udy is done.
This simula ion s udy shows he g ea po en ial o educe he CO2 emissions due o
anspo ways by 82 % when using bio eac o s o silk p oduc ion nea o he
cus ome .
Fig. 2. Example cu -ou om he simula ion model showing he key pe o mance indica o s o
examine he di e en wool washing p ocesses modelled wi h AnyLogic.
4 RESULTS AND INSIGHTS
4.1 Pa icipan Feedback
In he inal eaching e alua ion, 11 ou o 21 s uden s (52,38 %) ook pa . The
e alua ion shows ha he s uden s a e o e all e y sa is ied wi h he semina and
hei knowledge gain. On a 5-poin Like scale (1 = s ongly disag ee; 5 = s ongly
ag ee), hey a ed he cou se wi h an a e age sco e o 4.1 (N = 11). I is pa icula ly
no ewo hy ha many s uden s had li le p io knowledge abou ex ile ma e ials, hei
en i onmen al impac and hei in luence on clima e change be o e he semina .
They a ed hei inc ease in knowledge as 4.0. The ques ion ‘The cou se encou ages
me o hink and e lec u he on he opic’ was answe ed wi h 4.4.
The hema ic ocus o he semina was pa icula ly posi i ely emphasised. Fi e
pa icipan s s essed ha i was an ex emely ele an and in e es ing opic on which
hey would like o deepen hei specialis knowledge. Two s uden s highligh ed he
link o sus ainabili y aspec s and he encou agemen o hink c i ically abou supply
chains and p oduc ion p ocesses. One pe son emphasised he conside a ion o
di e en pe spec i es. Two o he s uden s app ecia ed he didac ic app oach and he
independen wo k. In addi ion, i e s uden s emphasised he pleasan wo king
a mosphe e, which hey ound o be open, iendly and elaxed. They ecognised he
en husiasm o he eaching s a and desc ibed hei own wo k as c ea i e.
The s uden s' sugges ions o imp o emen ela ed in pa icula o he use o he
AnyLogic p og amme. Fi e s uden s wished o a mo e comp ehensi e in oduc ion
o he unc ions o he so wa e in o de o gain a be e unde s anding o i s
possibili ies. Th ee pa icipan s sugges ed o mula ing he expec a ions and lea ning
objec i es o he semina mo e clea ly a he beginning. Two s uden s eques ed
mo e esou ces, o example on da a esea ch in he ex ile sec o o al e na i e
p og ammes o AnyLogic. One pe son sugges ed addi ional da es o indi idual
coaching sessions and consul a ion hou s in o de o be e unde s and also he
p og ess o he o he g oups.
4.2 Teaching Enhancemen and Imp o emen Sugges ions
As lec u e s, we scheduled abou 20 minu es a e each uni o e lec on he
session. This was done pa icula ly in line wi h he design-based esea ch app oach:
by con inuously e alua ing and e lec ing on he indi idual componen s, we we e
able o ake s uden eedback in o accoun p omp ly and adap he semina s uc u e
a sho no ice (McKenney & Ree es, 2013).
One speci ic imp o emen app oach ela es o he i s day o he weekend semina .
On his day, an in oduc ion o he opic o sus ainabili y and a de ini ion o he e m
we e gi en. The pa icipan s hen analyzed he p oblems o he ex ile indus y. The
lec u e s p esen ed a ious ex ile labels. In addi ion, he s uden s wo ked on he
supply chain law and he EU ex ile s a egy and p esen ed hei indings. In a u u e
implemen a ion, we would adap he sequence: The s uden s should i s esea ch
a ious labels in small g oups and p esen hei indings be o e he eache s ake
o e he classi ica ion as well as he opics o supply chain law and EU ex ile
s a egy. I would also be desi able o inco po a e a game-based app oach on his
day in o de o con ey he opic o sus ainabili y in he ex ile indus y e en mo e
i idly. On he second day o he weekend semina , i became appa en ha bo h he
indi idual download o he so wa e and he in e ne connec ion a he uni e si y
we e p oblema ic. To a oid echnical di icul ies, s uden s should download he
so wa e in ad ance. An op imal solu ion would be o p o ide a compu e oom in
which AnyLogic is al eady p e-ins alled on all compu e s.
To summa ize, he ollowing ecommenda ions can be made o u u e
implemen a ion o make he semina e en mo e s uc u ed, in e ac i e and e icien :
- Clea e communica ion o lea ning objec i es: The expec a ions and
objec i es o he semina should be made e en clea e a he beginning.
- G ea e suppo o AnyLogic: A mo e de ailed in oduc ion o he unc ions o
he so wa e would help s uden s o be e unde s and he possibili ies o he
so wa e. In addi ion, he so wa e should be downloaded in ad ance o a
compu e oom should be used o p epa a ion.
- P o ide mo e in e ac i e elemen s: A game-based app oach o he opic could
u he inc ease s uden mo i a ion.
5 CONCLUSION
This p ac ice pape desc ibes he success ul implemen a ion o a PBL Module o
amilia ize s uden s wi h he complex challenges o he ex ile indus y. The
in e disciplina y app oach o he cou se combined wi h p oduc ion simula ion
enabled s uden s o de elop inno a i e and sus ainabili y-o ien ed solu ions.
Feedback om pa icipan s highligh s he ele ance o he opic, he e ec i eness o
he independen p ojec wo k and he suppo i e lea ning en i onmen . Howe e ,
imp o emen s in he in oduc ion o AnyLogic, clea e communica ion o lea ning
objec i es and addi ional in e ac i e elemen s could u he enhance he semina
expe ience. A clea goal o u u e i e a ions should also be o educe he d op-ou
a e o 40%. The indings will be in eg a ed in o u u e sessions o op imize s uden
engagemen and lea ning ou comes. A leas wo mo e i e a ions o he semina a e
planned, and he concep will be con inuously op imized. The app oach helps o
aise awa eness, gain new skills and p omo e inno a ion o a mo e sus ainable
ex ile indus y and u u e.
6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The au ho s hank all s uden s and pa icipan s o he semina o hei engagemen ,
c ea i i y, and aluable con ibu ions o de eloping sus ainable solu ions. Thanks in
ad ance o he unknown e iewe s o hei commen s in he ea ly phase o his pape .
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