● What is sustainable manufacturing?
A growing number of companies and manufacturers are now adapting to sustainable ways of manufacturing as more and more customers want to purchase products from organisations that engage in sustainable practices. Because of the population explosion, the resources are being consumed at a rate much faster than the earth can regenerate. The impact of exhausted resources has become a concern for many. Three out of four millennials would agree to pay a little more for products from sustainable manufacturing companies that are committed to a positive environmental impact. This makes it crucial for manufacturers to consider how manufacturing could be made more environmentally friendly.
A sustainable manufacturing process involves developing sustainable products with minimal negative environmental impact, consuming minimal energy, natural resources, and other materials by implementing sustainable practices. It can be defined as the creation of finished products using non-polluting, energy-conserving natural resources and implementing economically safe and sound manufacturing processes.
● Some effective sustainable manufacturing practices:
– Reevaluate and optimise the use of fossil fuels
Decreased use of fossil fuels not only reduces the carbon footprint but also be cost-effective, making them a win-win from environmental as well as economic aspects. Simple changes like turning the machinery off when not in use or replacing single-speed motors with servo drive to decrease the consumption of energy and make a huge difference. Switching to alternative sources of energy like wind, solar or hydroelectric is a great initiative.
– Recycle
Recycling waste is one of the most important green manufacturing processes. Sustainable manufacturing companies can start by changing to the best manner of workflow in order to segregate the materials that can be recycled.
– Reduce the amount of waste you produce
Manufacturers should learn to find opportunities to reduce waste production by re-evaluating their systems and processes in general. Make it a goal to only consume supplies, resources, and materials that are needed in producing finished products.
● Benefits of sustainable manufacturing:
– Save money on energy costs:
Switching to renewable energy sources like solar or wind can help stabilize your energy prices. The cost of installing these setups have also decreased in the past few years to promote sustainable manufacturing. Frequently checking the manufacturing equipment for malfunctions or poor energy use or turning to recycle initiatives are great ways of reducing energy costs.
– Improved environmental health
By switching to sustainable manufacturing processes reduce pollution, minimise waste and decreases the emission of hazardous gasses/chemicals into the air. Aside from the safety or the health of employees and the people in your community, sustainable methods of manufacturing also have multiple other benefits like boosting workplace morale and gaming access to government incentives.
– Boosted sales
It is a step in the right direction that young adults have made environmental protection their priority. Many millennials are making switches to products from sustainable manufacturing companies that are conscious of their impact on the environment. This opens up huge market demand for your products and makes them more marketable.
- How Ingenero promotes a sustainable manufacturing process?
Ingenero plays a key role in ensuring sustainability and continuity of business for their clients by leveraging their deep and rich experience accumulated over the years of working with top global corporations on challenging assignments. The team of experts at Ingenero can effectively implement big data analytics to solve most of the consistent industry-specific challenges such as difficulties in performance improvement, lack of visibility on complex operational processes, complexity in logistics, meeting environment rules, and equipment life cycle management. The solutions by Ingenero are aimed at creating a sustainable manufacturing environment across various industries. The solutions are therefore structured as per the Intelligent Software Solutions for Process Decision Excellence (I-SSPDE). I-SSPDE helps combine rigorous digital twins for refinery models with big, real-time data analytics as well as historical operational data within an evolving Machine Learning model.
When it comes to sustainable manufacturing processes, The aim should be to approach every possible way of reducing the harmful effect on the environment. The key is to reduce energy consumption and control waste production. A few small changes today can create a huge impact on the coming generations.