Efficient Plant July 2018 - 16

feature | operating strategies

SUSTAINABLE-MANUFACTURING INDICATORS

Don't know how to begin moving your operations into the
sustainable-manufacturing arena? The Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development, Washington
(oecd.org) has created a useful set of metrics and indicators
with an associated guide that can help you get started.
These indicators include:
INPUTS
 non-renewable material
intensity
 restricted substance
intensity
 recycled/reused materials.
OPERATIONS

 water intensity
 energy intensity
 renewable proportion of
energy consumed
 greenhouse gas (GHG)
intensity
 residuals intensity
 intensity of residual releases
to air
 intensity of residual releases
to surface water
 natural cover.

Sustainable
manufacturing
can reduce
operating
costs and
improve
bottom lines.

PRODUCTS

 recycled/reused content
of products
 recyclability of products
 renewable materials content of products
 non-renewable intensity
over product lifetime
 restricted substances content of products
 intensity of energy consumption of products
 intensity of greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions from
products.

performance on each of the applicable indicators. Because you'll be pursuing a long-term strategy, be sure
to rank the opportunities. In this case, you'll evaluate
your opportunities based upon economic, societal, and environmental impacts relative to the time
required to implement, the cost of implementation,
and the probability of success. As with any initiative
of this nature, you'll discover, through the analysis
process, that there are some "big-easy/low-hangingfruit" opportunities, i.e., those that require little effort
to generate substantial impact. Tackle such initiatives
first, then measure your success and advertise and
celebrate it. This helps create inertia for executing the
longer-term, more-complex aspects.
Sustainable manufacturing is very much a
cross-functional proposition. In fact, the long-term
objectives can't be achieved solely inside the four
walls of a plant. Remember that success requires

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procurement staff, product-design and process-design
engineers, supply-chain managers, human resources,
and the finance team all to be on board.
Don't take the pedal off the metal in terms of education, i.e., culture change. Some personnel will buy
in immediately, others will come along more slowly,
and still others will completely resist. Be prepared to
supply plenty of nurturing-and for the inevitable
fact that not everyone will come around. (You may
find that the last category may not be a good fit for the
organization going forward). The goal with any transformational process is to reach the "tipping point"
where about 30% of the organization can be called
true believers. Don't treat the human aspects of your
sustainable-manufacturing transformation lightly.

FINAL THOUGHTS
The prospect of becoming a sustainable-manufacturing operation may seem daunting. While you may
be thinking your organization can't afford to dive in
completely, there are some ways to achieve short-term
environmental wins without changing your product
and process designs. You can then transition into the
more complex aspects of sustainable manufacturing
over time-starting with small changes to existing
products, processes, and materials-input and -output
logistical systems.
Many organizations go into sustainable manufacturing thinking it will cost them money, only to find
that they're actually more profitable. Lower energy
costs; lower raw-materials costs; lower wastecollection, treatment, and disposal costs; and lower
life-cycle-asset costs put money on the bottom line
while simultaneously serving societal and environmental goals. Just as important, it's proven that
consumers are increasingly willing to pay a premium
for sustainably manufactured products. As younger
generations enter the economy, that trend will only
continue. Make plans and start acting now to ensure
your organization is on their lists of approved
suppliers. EP
Drew Troyer, principal with Sigma Reliability Solutions,
is based in Tulsa, OK. A Certified Reliability Engineer
(American Society for Quality, Milwaukee, asq.org),
contact him at Drew.Troyer@sigma-reliability.com.

JULY 2018

http://www.oecd.org http://www.asq.org http://www.EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Efficient Plant July 2018