Toolkits for sustainable manufacturing
Jonathan Fuller | October 06, 2020Green manufacturing is not necessarily a new or novel concept. Media outlets in every industry and around the world have touted the benefits of the practice — reduced energy usage, lowered emissions and increased reuse of materials — for years. Welding Digest has contributed its share of green manufacturing coverage: what it is, the emergence of green-collar jobs and why it may soon become “the new normal.”
Several write-ups sing the praises of green manufacturing’s many benefits, only to stop just before its practical application and implementation. Read on to learn about practical guides and software tools that bridge the gap from green manufacturing theory to practice.
Green toolkits and guides
The startup guide and web portal created and maintained by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is one of the most well-known green manufacturing toolkits available. The materials provide in-depth information and tools, including instructions, technical calculators, data guidance and key indicators, for measuring the environmental impact of a manufacturing operation.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maintains a comprehensive set of tools to assist manufacturers in reducing their environmental footprints. Its Sustainable Manufacturing web portal includes a database of green electronics sources, resources for applying lean methodologies to reduce waste and emissions, energy tracking tools and more.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) provides a “Sustainable Manufacturing 101” training consisting of six individual presentations. The modules run the gamut from making a business case for sustainable manufacturing, to finding specific opportunities for improvement and deciding which projects to pursue. The final module describes international and U.S. domestic legislation that can drive more sustainable practices.
Software tools
Dedicated sustainability software can streamline a green manufacturing operation. Manufacturers looking to make their operations more sustainable and less environmentally taxing must put detailed plans into place, carefully track the correct data points and often need to report this data and progress to stakeholders within the organization as well as outside it. Software, like that manufactured by Perillon, Sphera and Quentic, can perform all of these functions and more.
Figure 1: Sustainability software can help manufacturers track emissions and energy usage, and stay compliant with legal and regulatory agencies. Source: Quentic
Key metrics that can be managed by sustainability software include:
Environmental markers: Software can integrate with an organization’s existing infrastructure to gather air, water and pollution data collected from remote sensors. Programs often have in-built formulas taken from relevant standards and regulations; pollution data that exceeds or transgresses these standards triggers an alarm in real time to help the organization remedy the situation.
Carbon and emissions management: Like environmental monitoring, software can monitor an organization’s carbon emissions, measure it against standards that are automatically updated as regulatory agencies do so and export the data to regulators. Some software programs contain vast libraries of carbon emissions data and models to assist organizations in sustainability planning.
Energy management: Software can provide a centralized location for energy tracking, for those organizations looking to lower energy usage. Key performance indicators (KPI) can easily be set up and monitored in real time, with alarms triggered when energy usage reaches unacceptable levels. Manufacturers often work with multiple energy-heavy processes; software can track each process’s energy usage and efficiency to determine which areas of the organization need attention.
Putting it all together
By using one of the available toolkits for planning and then employing dedicated software for implementation, a manufacturer can learn to identify key sustainability indicators, track and monitor the indicators, and ultimately make its operations significantly greener. Once these basic items are in place, the organization can boost its sustainability performance even further by addressing social as well as environmental issues, refining a broad sustainability strategy and even becoming a sustainability thought leader in its market or industry.