Maximizing utilization rate of office automation equipment by intraoffice circulation

The utilization rate of products, which indicates the extent to which product functionality has been exhausted, must be improved to increase eco-efficiency of the products. In this paper, we propose an intraoffice circulation model that can increase the utilization rate of office automation equipment. The manufacturer makes a contract with an office to provide the required functionality for a certain period. An office would require machines in each section. In our model, machines are periodically reallocated among the different sections with different user characteristics. The algorithm for optimizing circulation plan is developed using genetic algorithm. The model is applied to the use of copiers installed in a university office. The results verify the effectiveness of our model for reducing the environmental load.