Sustainability Leads To Next-generation Manufacturing

Automation World (Mintchell) - A thorough evaluation of every phase of manufacturing with appropriate executive leadership can lead to cleaner manufacturing that creates far less waste.

Developing next-generation manufacturing takes far more vision, commitment and thought than just doing one kaizen event for Lean Manufacturing. Interface’s experience points to a multi-faceted approach that brings together production, product design and supply chain into an integrated whole. Tools to help managers and engineers put it all together may not yet exist, though. This is an opportunity for other suppliers to help lead the way.

One problem standing in the way of development of sustainable manufacturing is understanding just what “sustainable” means. Says Swack, “One of the greatest barriers to companies is lack of definition and understanding. There are no standard sets of metrics or ways to measure sustainability. Companies are so siloed in approach that it’s hard to achieve the kind of collaboration to leapfrog the competition.”

...Finally, Sean Robinson, industry director for food and beverage at suppler GE Intelligent Platforms, in Charlottesville, Va., sums up, “Some see these sustainability programs as part of an overall continuous improvement program. It’s really a triage for finding inefficiencies treated as a cost and opportunity that happens to have significant environmental and societal benefits.”