Sustainable manufacturing is playing a big role in shaping industrial operations. It plays the role of providing processes that are non-polluting, and conserve energy and other resources.
To achieve corporate success and economic profit, there are sustainable manufacturing practices that need to be adopted:
Introducing more attractive, sustainable, and higher-value products to market.
Improving operational performance - with a particular focus on reducing energy consumption and quality defects.
Reducing indirect costs such as employee travel, supply chains, inventory management and machine inefficiencies.
These practices are driven by the environmental impacts manufacturers can influence:
Decarbonisation of production by reducing direct emissions of greenhouse gases and particles.
Reduction of energy consumption.
Reduction of indirect greenhouse gas emissions directly related to employee travel, raw materials, inputs, suppliers and resellers.
The impacts of manufacturers on the environment must be reduced to a neutral level. Industrial companies can use powerful tools such as computer-aided design (CAD), Augmented Reality (AR) software, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions, as well as product lifecycle management (PLM) software.
The use of these tools shortens product development times and ultimately reduces the indirect carbon footprint of a product.
The basic principle of sustainable production: the right measure
An important rule for environmentally compatible products is that they must meet the specified requirements as precisely as possible - more, no less. A poorly designed product has a higher risk of failure and additional maintenance costs. Digital technologies are unlocking new possibilities for the cleaner manufacturing process and safer, more environmentally friendly products.
CASE STUDY
Reducing design complexity and leveraging more efficient processes
Electrolux Professional is always looking for more agile and innovative ways of working. Facing process and data complexities with three global business units and thousands of unique configured-to-order products, its world-class R&D Enablers department decided it was time to standardize product data management (PDM).
It partnered with PTC and PDSVISION, a PTC Platinum Partner, to implement PTC’s Windchill PLM solution to reduce complexity for itself and its customers, accelerating product development, and taking further steps towards a digital transformation journey.
