What are three sustainability issues in relationship to manufacturing?
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A detailed look at lighthouse success cases reveals that organizations investing in 4IR technology are realizing improvements in productivity, sustainability, operating cost, customization, and speed to market. Image: Unsplash/ Science in HD Francisco BettiHead, Shaping the Future of Advanced Manufacturing & Value Chains; Member, ExCom, World Economic Forum Stay up to date: Emerging TechnologiesLicense and Republishing World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum. Global Agenda The Agenda WeeklyA weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda
By Judy Cubiss, Director and Global Marketing Lead, Industrial Manufacturing, SAP Industrial manufacturers are getting used to uncertainty. In the past couple of years, the pandemic quickly revealed widespread supply chain instability, and a global semi-conductor shortage catching many manufacturers off guard. Now, industrial manufacturers must address their biggest challenge to date, sustainability. According to a recent survey, manufacturing executives have more visibility into their supply chain processes and surpass other industries when it comes to taking action to increase sustainability. Many manufacturing respondents (42%) say sustainability is top-of-mind at all stages of the manufacturing process, and a majority (68%) have reduced energy consumption across their companies. Both of these areas rank higher among manufacturers than all other industries in the survey of more than 1,000 global respondents. Three Ways Industrial Manufacturers Can Become More Sustainable
Complex and Conflicting Pressures on Industrial ManufacturersSustainability is just one aspect of several competing factors that industrial manufacturers need to consider. Business leaders still need to control costs and maintain efficient processes while also focusing on improving visibility, resiliency, and sustainability throughout the supply chain. They also need to introduce innovative new business models and solutions to grow revenue. In fact, the move to more service- or outcome-based models, where industrial manufacturers and customers share risk, can present a huge incentive for making products that are more sustainable and encourage a circular manufacturing approach. But all of this increases the complexity that industrial manufacturers must contend with, and these competing pressures often create additional challenges when it comes to setting and reaching sustainability goals:
These influences are often competing, so industrial manufacturers must find a way to balance all these conflicting factors and encompass sustainability throughout their processes. To effectively plan and implement more sustainable practices, industrial manufacturers need to increase visibility into all their processes and across their supply chain. Industry 4.0 Is Leading the WayThere is a clear intersection between sustainability and Industry 4.0 which delivers more transparency and accountability. As more manufacturing processes become automated, there will be more visibility and transparency throughout the supply chain. Some manufacturers lead the way when it comes to using advanced technology in their manufacturing processes. More than half in the survey (53%) use 3D printing or the Internet of Things (IoT) during the manufacturing process, and out of all survey respondents, 75% see increased process efficiency from using IoT in manufacturing. 5G networks can now provide the capability and bandwidth that manufacturers need to collect and analyze more data, computing at the edge can enable manufacturing lines to operate autonomously, and processes have improved with the use of IoT, cloud computing, mobile devices, and edge computing on factory floors. There is still huge potential for industrial manufacturers to use technology to their advantage to help them unravel the complexity in their processes and give them the visibility they need to make effective and sustainable decisions throughout the manufacturing supply chain. In the survey, two-thirds said that a sustainable supply chain is a competitive differentiator. However, visibility into sustainable practices within the extended supply chain remains low. Strategies to Balance the Bottom Line with the Green LineIndustrial manufacturers have a challenging road ahead as they attempt to balance all the competing influences and pressures in their industry but here are a few ways to get started:
A Sustainable Future is Good for the Planet and for BusinessMany industrial manufacturers are already seeing returns from their early adoption of industry 4.0 but there is still a long way to go to put sustainability at the forefront. As business leaders continue trying to balance increasingly complex issues, pressure from customers and stakeholders will only increase, and there really is no other choice for our planet and our future. Access the full survey results for the manufacturing industry here: The Sustainable Supply Chain Paradox What are the three main challenges of sustainability?Challenges of environmental sustainability. Global warming due to CO2 emissions. ... . Air pollution and water contamination. ... . Pollution of the oceans, seas and inland waters. ... . Slow energy transition and insufficient share of renewable energy. ... . Uncompromising food production harms.. What are the sustainability challenges for the manufacturing industry?5 challenges for manufacturing companies. Sustainability/climate neutrality,. rising energy costs,. supply difficulties,. individualization.. and digitalization.. What are the 3 types of sustainability?The figure at the top of this page suggests that there are three pillars of sustainability – economic viability, environmental protection and social equity.
What are the main sustainability issues?Our increasing and inefficient use of resources has knock-on effects including climate change, loss of biodiversity, pollution, poor health and poverty. These issues are interlinked and in turn often exacerbate each other.
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