Addressing Sustainability: Holistic Approach to Business Operations

Sustainable manufacturing (SM) is a holistic approach to business operations. It focuses on social, environmental and economic performance to achieve competitive advantage.

Many manufacturers are discovering that addressing sustainability – or ‘greening’ – in their operations makes them more efficient, lowers costs and helps them secure government benefits, and improves brand reputation and profitability.

Practices

Sustainable manufacturing involves using a process to minimize adverse environmental impacts and conserve energy, natural resources, and other valuable materials. It also ensures that the products and techniques are safe for employees, communities, and consumers.

Sustainable manufacturing practices include:

• Waste reduction and recycling.
• Improved use of raw materials.
• Optimized water and energy usage.

They also reduce costs and improve productivity.

One of the benefits of sustainable manufacturing methods is that companies become more competitive in the marketplace. They can attract more consumers, lower their cost structure, and boost their profit margins. In addition, they are more likely to meet governmental and industrial regulations.

Moreover, sustainable businesses use data-driven approaches to drive their sustainability initiatives. This includes a closed-loop system for product life-cycle management, allowing manufacturers to optimize their energy, raw materials, and other resources.

Another critical practice of sustainable manufacturing is the use of renewable energy. Alternative energy sources can lower emissions and make a plant more sustainable. Examples include solar, wind, and biomass.

Sustainable business practices like a refined supply chain and an optimized production planning process increase a plant’s reliability. They also improve efficiency, reducing the risk of product failures and growing profits.

Principles

Manufacturing has been at the forefront of technological progress and economic development for centuries, yet it is also a significant contributor to environmental pollution. This paradox is now being addressed by digital transformation solutions that offer sustainable, eco-friendly and efficient production methods.

To achieve sustainable manufacturing, companies must ensure that all aspects of their operations are considered and accounted for. This includes raw materials, product design, production processes and end-of-life considerations.

For example, a product’s life cycle can be optimized using techniques like life-cycle analysis (LCA) and design for environment (DFE) methods. This allows manufacturers to select fewer polluting components and materials and design their products to be recyclable or remanufactured.

A closed-loop manufacturing approach can also reduce the use of energy and resources while reducing waste and emissions. This can be accomplished by recycling or remanufacturing used materials and components and using new technologies for generating electricity, water, and heat.

Many manufacturers are also experimenting with ‘lights out’ manufacturing, which allows them to separate certain lines that run on electricity, to minimize the amount of energy they consume. Operating without lights and ventilation can improve productivity and lower costs. It also helps to maximize the efficiency of processes and systems, ultimately contributing to sustainability.

Standards

Sustainable manufacturing is a way to reduce the impact of a product on the environment. This involves reducing waste, using renewable energy, and conserving resources. The best way to implement these practices is through the use of standards.

The first step is to determine what sustainable manufacturing means to your business and how you can improve your processes to make them more environmentally friendly. Then, you can begin implementing measures to help you meet your goals and stay competitive.

As with many things, there are many different ways to implement sustainable practices in your business. There are many conferences and forums that you can attend to learn from experts in the field and get feedback from your peers.

Establishing a system of key performance indicators is one way to achieve this. These KPIs should be operational, quantitative and easy to understand.

For example, use standard international units for your metrics. This will make it easier to create a set of KPIs that can be used across different facilities and industries.

This will also make it easier to compare your current sustainability measures with other companies. The E3012-16 standard can help you do this.

Another area where standards can be helpful is in creating environmental models for design. This will help designers to ensure that the products they make are sustainable. However, it is essential to keep in mind that the models must be accurate and robust.

Regulations

A crucial part of sustainable manufacturing is implementing environmentally safe health and safety (EHS) practices. This involves various activities, including creating systematic approaches to complying with laws and regulations enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

EHS is concerned not only with protecting workers but also the general public. Keeping everyone in your company and community safe and healthy is one of the most important things you can do for your business, and you need to take it seriously.

It’s a challenge to do this while still ensuring your products’ highest quality and efficiency. Still, many manufacturers are making significant efforts to reduce emissions and waste and use natural resources more efficiently today. They’re doing this through several techniques, some of which are easy and others more complicated, but all of them require a significant commitment from the entire organization.

For example, a new ASTM international standard can help you “map” the critical environmental aspects of your manufacturing processes, helping to improve sustainability and minimize costs. This international standard, called E3012-16 Guide for Characterizing Environmental Aspects of Manufacturing Processes, enables manufacturers to identify the most critical environmental factors in their production and use data to improve those elements in a way that is computer-interpretable.

In addition to focusing on environmental aspects, sustainable manufacturing requires firms to focus on gaining competitive capabilities. These capabilities include product cost, quality and delivery and production flexibility, all of which can positively impact SMEs’ sustainability performance.