FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 37

››› PERsPEctiVEs

Rethinking SuStainability:
depth of that impact is not.” The program is already paying dividends: Hypertherm was able to reduce its landfill waste by 10 percent in 2011, reducing cost along with it. One key takeaway from this program is that even small changes—installing energy efficient light bulbs, printing on both sides of the page— can have a big impact. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), which represents leaders from 160 international companies, is another organization that believes sustainable development is good for business. The WBCSD is credited with coming up with the word “ecoefficiency”, which it defines as follows: The delivery of competitively priced goods and services that satisfy human needs and bring quality of life, while progressively reducing ecological impacts and resource intensity throughout the life cycle, to a level at least in line with the Earth’s estimated carrying capacity. The WBCSD believes eco-efficiency is a management strategy that can open up significant business opportunities. It says the combination of environmental and economic performance will enable efficient production processes and the creation of better products and services while reducing resource use, waste and pollution along the entire value chain. It breaks down this eco-efficiency management strategy into four areas: De-materialization: The substitution of knowledge flows for material flows. The WBCSD also encourages the production of customized products, arguing that product customization creates less waste since resources a consumer doesn’t want are not produced. Closing production loops: Working continuously toward closed-loop production systems and zero-waste factories, wherein every output is returned to natural systems as a nutrient or becomes an input for manufacturing another product. Service extension: Movement from a supply-driven economy to a demand-driven economy. By rethinking how to satisfy demand and develop customized responses to client needs, waste is once again reduced. Functional extension: The manufacture of “smarter” products with new and enhanced functionality and the selling of services to enhance the products’ functional value. So, how can your company begin to achieve the business benefits that are possible through an increased focus on environmental sustainability? Examples abound. Though the sustainability initiatives will vary by company, any company can become more sustainable. A path toward reaching that sustainability could look something like this: Organize for success: This needs to happen at all levels of your organization. Create a Green Team and discuss why and how sustainability may be important to your business. Meet once a week to identify ways to reduce waste and review sustainability efforts. Even a small job shop can organize for success. Make everyone a part of your Green Team and meet every Friday at lunch to brainstorm ways of reducing waste. Make sure to focus on the benefits of your efforts. Work with your top leaders, or set the example if you are one, on the case for environmental improvements in your organization and working that focus into your core business strategies. Understand what’s most important: Look at your business and find out where your biggest environmental impacts and risks are. Ask your customers, employees and suppliers what sustainability initiatives are most important to them. Put this all together and you will discover what is most material to your initiative, from both an impact and risk perspective, and then devote more resources to those areas. Look for opportunities that benefit both you and your customers’ operations and profitability. Set goals and measure them: Decide how much you want to save, measure your progress and track the results. Make your progress available to all employees and stakeholders. The more transparent you are, the more engaged and credible your initiative will become. As an example, a company with a lot of cars or delivery trucks on the road might decide it wants to reduce the amount of gas it uses a week (the goal). It can use software to map out the most efficient routes—routes that can enable a company’s fleet to travel fewer miles saving a substantial amount on gas, vehicle maintenance and even labor if the new routes make it possible to drivers to complete their jobs in less time. Track your savings (the measure part of the above path) and multiply those savings by a year. The savings can be significant. A fabricator may identify inefficient use of plate as a waste. The company may decide it wants to use 10 percent less metal (the goal) per month. It can use CAM software to more efficiently layout its parts so it winds up with less scrap and needs to buy less metal (the measurement). Regardless of your industry, there are ways to improve the environmental sustainability of your products and your operations, and there are business benefits to doing so. While there can be an up-front cost, the potential for positive ROI is great. And with global energy and resource demand expected to double in the next 10 to 20 years, companies that embrace sustainability as a means of reducing consumption, reducing waste and lowering costs are likely to be paid back by the market many times over. Hypertherm



FabShop Magazine - March 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of FabShop Magazine - March 2012

FabShop Magazine - March 2012
Publisher's Letter
Contents
Lasers
Top Fabricator
Press Brakes
Deburring
Punching
Laser Maintenance
New Products, People & Events
Perspectives: Hypertherm
Classified Ad
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - FabShop Magazine - March 2012
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - Publisher's Letter
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - Contents
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - Lasers
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 5
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 6
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 7
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 8
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - Top Fabricator
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 10
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 11
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 12
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 13
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - Press Brakes
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 15
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 16
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 17
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 18
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - Deburring
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 20
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 21
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 22
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 23
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - Punching
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 25
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 26
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 27
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 28
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - Laser Maintenance
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 30
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 31
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - New Products, People & Events
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 33
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 34
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - Perspectives: Hypertherm
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 36
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 37
FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - Classified Ad
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