Think Outside the Green Box
To help meet manufacturers’ needs while boosting profits and being socially responsible, OEMs can and should participate in sustainable production initiatives.
By Sandy Holden, Market Development Manager, OEM, Rockwell Automation
No doubt — our world is changing. As the costs of energy and raw materials skyrocket, everybody’s talking about ’going green’ and the need to do more with less. But in manufacturing, being a responsible corporate citizen goes way beyond green. It means practising sustainable production to strengthen business performance by improving all aspects of energy, waste reduction, environment and safety surrounding the total production life cycle of goods. Manufacturers have always depended on machine builders and equipment suppliers to help them reduce costs and improve profitability. Today, more and more companies have social responsibility on their minds, and they’re asking machine builders to help them achieve sustainability goals such as reducing their carbon footprint, cutting the costs of running machines, and increasing productivity and safety. Sustainable production is a smart way for machine builders to meet manufacturers’ needs and be socially responsible — all while boosting profits. As a machine builder, you benefit in two ways: saving money and satisfying customers.
You can cut costs through factors such as energy savings, smaller machine footprints, raw materials savings, delivering machines faster, making safer equipment, and regulatory compliance. You also strengthen your position as a good corporate citizen.
You satisfy manufacturers by helping them to reduce costs for energy and raw materials, getting the machines up and running faster, minimizing downtime and helping them to be socially and environmentally responsible.
What’s Involved in Sustainable Production?
Many people use the terms sustainability and going green synonymously, but sustainable production is much more comprehensive than being green. The holistic view of sustainable production encompasses manufacturing that transforms materials with significantly lower emission of greenhouse gases (GHG), minimised use of nonrenewable or toxic materials, less waste, and higher workplace and product safety while optimizing yield and supply chain integrity.
How Do You Get Started?
It’s easy for machine builders to start building sustainability initiatives. First, ask your customers about their sustainability goals and what they want from you. Next, approach your Rockwell Automation sales rep and get our OEM support team engaged. Our regional teams have the technical resources to support conversions or new designs so you can get equipment operating quickly to your customers’ specifications. Also, conduct risk assessments. Make sure your equipment is in compliance with safety regulations before it gets to the customer’s plant. This safety analysis helps to legally protect both the manufacturer and the machine builder if something were to happen. Many organizations, such as Rockwell Automation and the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers institute (PMMI), offer consulting services and training for conducting safety assessments. Energy audits also are a good idea, especially for machine builders who make larger machines. Certified Energy Managers offer a comprehensive overview of the energy audit process and can explain how to implement audits to reduce costs.
Don’t ’Go It Alone’ - No matter where you are in building your sustainability programme, a holistic approach is more than being green. It involves optimising every aspect of how you make machines by doing more with less. With the convergence of industry drivers and the availability of value-add automation solutions, you have every reason to implement sustainable production. It helps you achieve your long-term business goals, satisfy your customers, and have a more positive impact on society and the environment. When you combine the cost savings of sustainability programmes with today’s public rally behind saving the environment, the benefits of sustainable production are even more apparent. By investing in safer products and processes, resource-efficient technologies, and processes and traceability tools, machine builders and manufacturers thrive. Machine builders can and should participate in sustainable production initiatives. Don’t go it alone — work with your customers and automation suppliers to develop the right sustainable solution.
| Trends in Sustainable Production Distinct trends are emerging as both manufacturers and machine builders increase their sustainable production activities, and automation plays a key role in supporting these initiatives: • Cradle-to-Cradle Design. instead of designing a machine for one purpose, machine builders are being asked to design a machine for multiple purposes so it can be reconfigured later for a different operation. That means machine designs will continue to become much more flexible. • Design for Safety. Safety solutions continue to evolve as manufacturers insist on increased worker safety and equipment protection. Understanding the function of the manufacturing process is intrinsically important when applying safety solutions. With safety functionality being integrated into automation controllers, drives and motion solutions, and across networks such as EtherNet/IP, integrating safety can help increase productivity, minimize downtime and thereby provide substantial savings from lost production. • Focus on Energy. Machine builders are increasingly focusing on energy efficiency, including reusable energy. This can include the use of solutions such as variable-frequency drives (VFD) and servo technology. in addition, electronic actuators replace pneumatic and hydraulic alternatives so manufacturers don’t have to worry about energy-wasting compressed air systems or spilled hydraulic fluid. |
• Motion Efficiency. More machine builders are examining mechatronics solutions to optimize machinery by reducing energy usage. Rockwell Automation Motion Analyzer software features mechatronic design tools that can help OEMs build smaller machines by correctly sizing the servo and drives applications. • Remote Monitoring. Remote monitoring allows users to troubleshoot equipment from afar and reduce gasoline usage and travel time of maintenance personnel who normally would drive to the equipment’s location. Machine builders are finding creative ways to make their operations more sustainable. For example, one equipment manufacturer specialising in end-of-the-line packaging equipment recognised that there was a better alternative to corrugated boxes and trays. The company created a package that cut costs by using less packaging material and a bonding adhesive that eliminated flat-pad packaging’s instability. Customers reported reducing the packaging required to ship product to market by 60%, and increasing pallet density by an average of 8%. |
For more information, please e-mail us at: info_at@ra.rockwell.com with ref: Green Box
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