Improving profitability through green manufacturing: creating a profitable and environmentally compliant manufacturing facility

With rapid changes in technology, customer needs and globalization, there is pressure on manufacturing to constantly transform and evolve in order to adopt quickly and profitably. There is also the challenge of meeting environmental regulations that are becoming more strict every day. Green manufacturing presents a solution for the companies to be green and profitable at the same time and this is what this book is about. The authors are experts on sustainability and maximizing productivity. They have long years of experience both in industry and academia. They strongly argue that profitability and green manufacturing are not opposing goals. Green manufacturing has a goal of getting rid of waste and waste can be defined as everything that does not add value to the product. Therefore, eliminating waste reduces costs and improves company’s potential for profitability as well as making it environmentally compliant.

The company needs to adopt a systematic approach to identify and quantify the waste as a basis for designing the product and to reduce the waste in manufacturing with the goal of achieving a facility that is compliant and profitable. Waste minimization is a two-step approach. In the first step of designing a new product there is major opportunity to reduce waste. The organizational functions involved in this step examine alternative designs that meet customer’s requirements and establishes the design. Once the design is established the options of change are limited but there are still opportunities to reduce waste. The organizational functions involved in this group are responsible for operating the facility and ensuring that it is in compliance. The book provides strategies for analysis, decision making and improvement. Methods and techniques used by variety of manufacturing companies are given. They can be used by companies and modified if necessary to be applied in their own way. Therefore this book would be highly useful for business leaders, manufacturing engineers, design engineers as well as for policy makers, environmental groups and engineering students.

The book is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter covers description of manufacturing in general and product life cycle. The source and types of wastes incurred in manufacturing are identified and explained. Chapter 2 introduces an approach involving a matrix that considers material classes associated with basic processes. The catalog of materials and processes is achieved by classifying manufacturing industries. A tool is provided that evaluates alternatives in materials and processes to identify a design that can be both profitable and environmentally compliant. This tool is called as profitable and compliant process chart (PCPC). An elementary version of the PCPC is given in this chapter and how it can be used to make decisions about production is explained. Chapter 3 provides an overview of community, state and federal regulations. It is supported that the efforts to achieve compliance can help profitability. Disposal of waste is costly. To make compliance a profitable approach the waste streams need to be reduced to the allowed limit or eliminated.

In chapter 4 case studies are provided illustrating several approaches that are used by companies in all stages of manufacturing to be profitable and environmentally compliant. The approaches used to reduce waste vary to some extent depending on the industry and the type of manufacturing facility. However, there are some commonalities such as commitment to using best practices, presence of certified management systems and use of concepts of lean manufacturing. Chapter 5 provides several tools to minimize waste and classifies them according to the functions within the organization such as manufacturing operations, product design and human resources. Several well-known methods are covered in this chapter including lean manufacturing, Kaizen, Pareto principle, Fishbone diagram and Just-in-time. Chapter 6 explains how to construct a profitable and environmentally compliant facility. Appropriate site selection, use of sustainable materials and environmental and safety codes are important minimize the environmental impact created by the facility. There are several computer-based resources that can assist architects and plant engineers to asses energy use and cost analysis. The final chapter provides step-by-step explanation of how the PCPC is developed and its uses. Several actual manufacturing applications are given with their worksheets showing the ways this tool can aid in decision-making and how the companies doing different manufacturing operations can all benefit from waste reduction using this tool.

The book is presented in a structured format with introduction, defined sections, conclusions and selected bibliography for each chapter. The chapters provide a clear and concise roadmap to establish green manufacturing. Case studies and application examples given make the concepts introduced easier to be understood. Glossary is found at the end of the book for the concepts, methods and tools mentioned in the book. The tool that is covered in more detail in this book is the PCPC. However, the PCPC is applicable mainly for manufacturers of finished consumer products. It has limitations for companies that are engaged in primary manufacturing or for companies that deal only with distribution, service and disposal of products. The other methods and tools that can be used in minimizing waste are explained only briefly in the book. If the companies are willing to adapt one of these they should refer to literature with more comprehensive coverage of that subject. However, it is good to have a list of several options altogether and the book also provides selected bibliography where the reader can refer to for further information. All in all, this is an appealing book intended for companies that are willing to implement green manufacturing. But it will basically serve anyone interested in learning about green manufacturing and how to establish and maintain a facility that is profitable and compliant.