ABSTRACT
This research aims to address the increasing regulatory and environmental challenges associated with refrigeration systems by fostering innovations. Refrigeration systems, as socio-technical entities, present a challenge due to their complexity, diverse stakeholders, and evolving regulatory constraints. Identifying opportunities for innovation in such intricate systems is further complicated by various performance-contributing factors. The Radical Innovation Design (RID) methodology, designed for aligning design solutions with activities, proves effective in pinpointing and prioritizing innovation targets across the lifecycle of a complex system. In this study, data from interviews and practices in the retail refrigeration sector inform the RID methodology. Two sets of results are presented. Firstly, a knowledge book of the socio-technical system is categorized into four RID dimensions: usage situations, user profiles, current problems, and existing solutions. The second set includes outcomes from two RID decision-support tools: the RID Comparator evaluates the effectiveness of existing solutions, while the RID Compass identifies three improvement areas – poor adaptation of new technical clusters, disrupted stakeholder interaction processes, and a lack of common tools. These results underwent validation through expert iterations, leading to a recommended hybrid solution involving the development of an integrated model-based platform.
Nomenclature
CEE | = | Certificat d’Economie d’Energie (energy saving certificate) |
EOL | = | end-of-life |
Es | = | existing solution |
F-gas | = | fluorinated greenhouse gas |
KM | = | knowledge management |
LCA | = | lifecycle assessment |
P | = | problem |
RID | = | Radical Innovation Design |
RS | = | refrigeration system |
Up | = | user profile |
Us | = | usage situation |
VB | = | value bucket |
WEEE | = | waste electrical and electronic equipment |
Disclosure statement
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.