Sustainable Manufacturing — Everything You Should Know

Sustainable manufacturing is gaining popularity as a growing number of manufacturers are realizing its substantial financial and environmental benefits. However, what is sustainable manufacturing? 

This article will tackle what sustainable manufacturing is. We will discuss how to achieve sustainable production. Additionally, we will tell you how you make the shift toward sustainability more accessible and the benefits you can gain by introducing a sustainable production process to your business. 

Once you are done reading this article, you will have an in-depth knowledge of what sustainable manufacturing is. Thus, this will enable you to know if shifting to sustainable manufacturing is now viable for your company to gain its benefits. 

The Definitionof Sustainable Manufacturing

Many people have heard the word sustainable manufacturing. But what really is it? Sustainable manufacturing, also known as green manufacturing or sustainable production, refers to the process of making goods with a primary focus on decreasing negative environmental, social, and economic impacts. 

It establishes eco-friendly manufacturing production activities in the business and takes advantage of renewable resources to create the products of a business. Sustainability in manufacturing is growing in popularity as many businesses and consumers do not want to be related to manufacturers that are not refining their processes for the benefit of the environment. 

The advancements in digital manufacturing technology have decreased the barriers to developing and implementing solutions and systems capable of enabling sustainable production. 

However, it is important to note that there are no accreditation or external audits in implementing the green manufacturing framework. Nonetheless, the framework can help manufacturers in enhancing their processes and track their progress so that they can show their stakeholders. 

How to Make the Sustainability ShiftMore Accessible?

1. Planning

The first step to making the shift more accessible is to plan. It is crucial to know your current carbon profile to create a baseline of your environmental footprint. Thus, this can help you to make your strategy and allow you to set clear goals and objectives. 

Any strategy you may come up with must be underpinned by strong scenario planning. Also, companies should be prepared for their data to be audited to provide clients with proof of their level of sustainability.

2. Executing

For a manufacturing company to carry out sustainability initiatives, new roles may be needed to be developed. Through this, the new roles may help in determining which sustainability measures are needed to address and prioritize investments.

Additionally, manufacturers need to bring ecosystem partners together in a coordinated manner where all of them aim to achieve sustainability.

3. Tracking/Measuring

Manufacturers should measure or track the progress of their sustainability initiatives. Also, they should use the measured progress as a baseline to make a clear market narrative around the positive impacts they are driving all while improving transparency. 

Those manufacturers that have no sustainable initiatives risk public opinion turning against them. Thus, harming their profitability and potentially losing their loyal customers.