Environmental Impact On Sustainable Manufacturing

881 Words4 Pages

Sustainable Manufacturing can mean different to different industries but essentially it comprises the following elements: reducing waste generated from the manufacturing process, recycling, using low cost clean energy, converting waste streams to revenue streams and taking responsibility of the product throughout its lifecycle. It essentially means doing more with less.
Six basic steps have been identified for achieving sustainable manufacturing: Eliminations of waste, optimal use of fossil fuels, reduce or eliminate pollution, recycle, recovering energy and lastly saving time and machinery to do a piece of work.
Sustainability in manufacturing is being increasingly recognized as an important concern. To quantify environmental impact in manufacturing practices, Environmental Impact defined as the product of population (P), affluence (A) and technology (T) is used to drive the philosophy of sustainability in industries these days. EI = P*A*T. Population and affluence aren’t under the control of a firm, therefore it is through technology that firms today can reduce environmental impact. Technology factor can be subdivided into three factors: Product Process and Practices. Products should be designed keeping the environment in mind and by assessing their impact throughout their life time. Environmentally sound processes should be used while manufacturing these products such that they cause less pollution and generate less waste. It involves the use of waste and the by-products generated. We have various standards for quality control …show more content…

The basic philosophy of elimination of waste and high quality are principles that resonate with our philosophy of sustainable manufacturing. Lean Manufacturing leads to reduction in lead time and inventory, TQM, Total Productive Maintenance, Improved Material Handling, Poka Yoka (Mistake Proofing). All these practices contribute hugely to sustainable

Open Document