by Gary Mintchell | Oct 16, 2024 | Sustainability
Seth Godin writes, Don’t Buy Cheap Chocolate.
We are all in the business of making manufacturing and production processes run more smoothly, efficiently, effectively, safely. Our decisions determine these outcomes. Sometimes we do not think beyond these systems. Perhaps our products are not healthy for our customers. Perhaps beyond that, the feedstocks and raw materials may not be sustainable or may cause harm to the providers.
Seth Godin writes on a recent blog, “The chocolate we buy at the supermarket furthers the goals of the system, and directly harms the lives of the impoverished farmers who grow the cacao.”
We have built a system to optimize mass production of chocolate treats. Competing at the lowest common denominator drives us to find the lowest cost of everything. Lowest cost for commodities such as cocoa or coffee (in another context) begins a vicious cycle that culminates in the farmers at the end of the chain living on subsistence income.
And the quality suffers. Have you ever tried a pour over of a direct trade coffee versus a coffee from Starbucks? The same with chocolates. The quality of the source matters. My first experience of good chocolates came from automation industry legend Dick Morley.
Back to Seth Godin.
My friend Shawn Askinosie has written about this eloquently, and I’m thrilled to be working with him and his daughter to create a collectible chocolate bar. You can find the details here.
As you contemplate chocolate purchases this month, don’t buy cheap chocolates.
by Gary Mintchell | Sep 18, 2024 | Business, Sustainability
A German company called Makersite has developed a product in a genre it calls product lifecycle intelligence focused on managing product sustainability. Managing sustainability for a manufacturing organization begins with product design. Makersite has expanded its strategic partnership with product design software developer Autodesk. Makersite’s sustainability and cost data will now be available to Autodesk Inventor users, enabling engineers to analyze their products’ design, sustainability, and compliance factors during the design phase. Makersite’s platform is already available for Autodesk Fusion users through the Makersite add-on.
Makersite and Autodesk’s partnership empowers product designers and engineers to innovate more sustainable products at a faster pace by putting deep-tier supply chain and sustainability data directly into their hands, inside the CAD tools they’re already using.
Since 80% of an organization’s environmental footprint is determined during the product design stage, insight into sustainability metrics during the product development process is crucial – but can make optimizing products more complex. Makersite’s solution provides AI-enhanced digital twin models of products and their supply chains, sourcing data from more than 140 material, process, and supplier databases. This brings organizations more clarity into their supply chains and insight into their overall environmental impacts.
by Gary Mintchell | Aug 13, 2024 | Commentary, News, Sustainability
I bought and EV about a year ago, so I have a special interest in what’s happening in the lithium and lithium battery markets. A guy who comes to our community fitness center almost as often as I do has written a book on lithium. More on that later.
Let’s combine an interest in lithium battery technology and manufacturing with a market analysis by the research firm I’ve found to have the best methodology, Interact Analysis. Research Associate Renee Ju has written about her latest report, “Li-ion Battery and Manufacturing Equipment”, that provides a deep analysis of the current battery recycling market.
Interact Analysis’ upcoming report “Li-ion Battery and Manufacturing Equipment” , and this insight explores some of the key themes in the report.
Manufacturers that establish recycling businesses come from across the battery industry chain, including upstream raw mineral and material suppliers, midstream battery manufacturers, vehicle OEMs and businesses specializing in battery recycling. In China, there are fewer large-scale companies that specialize in lithium battery recycling and currently companies with battery recycling plants tend to be manufacturers from elsewhere in the lithium battery industry chain. In contrast, in other major country markets the li-ion battery recycling market is dominated by large-scale recycling manufacturers that specialize in recycling businesses, such as Li-cycle. Other companies in the lithium battery industry chain predominantly participate in the battery recycling market through collaboration with recycling companies.
Aside from signing cooperative research agreements, cooperation on battery recycling among companies in the lithium battery industry chain usually takes the form of signing supply agreements. These can be divided into directional supply and establishing a closed-loop recycling ecosystem. Directional supply involves OEMs and battery manufacturers supplying scrap batteries or scrap materials to recycling companies, and recycling companies supplying recycled materials obtained from processing scrap batteries to raw material manufacturers.
In contrast, some companies collaborate with the aim of establishing a closed-loop recycling ecosystem. If we take the collaboration announced by GEM in February 2023 with Mercedes-Benz China, CATL, and Brunp as an example: Mercedes-Benz China’s retired waste batteries will be processed by GEM and Brunp, with the recycled key raw materials such as nickel, cobalt, manganese, and lithium supplied to CATL’s supply chain and used to produce new batteries for Mercedes-Benz. The cooperation in battery recycling between upstream and downstream companies in the lithium battery industry chain not only meets environmental protection requirements but also maximizes battery value and reduces battery production costs.
Some companies whose main operations are not directly related to batteries are also exploring the market for battery recycling, such as sanitation companies and other recycling enterprises (including those specializing in metal recycling and solid waste recycling). Typically, these companies run the battery recycling businesses through collaboration with lithium battery-related companies, with the recycling business supplying the products of their recycling plants to raw material manufacturers for further application in the lithium battery industry and for use in other industries. For example, the recycled nickel, cobalt, and tungsten powders can be utilized in the production of hard alloys, rather than being directly used in the production of lithium battery-related products.
With the rapid expansion of lithium battery capacity and the imminent wave of retired power batteries, recycling has become a safe, environmentally friendly, and economical way to dispose of scrap batteries and raw materials. As relevant policies and regulations are continuously improved and implemented by different countries, the battery recycling market is entering a new stage of professionalization and scale, with market opportunities continuously emerging. As a restructuring of the industry ecosystem takes place, optimizing resource allocation, strengthening technological research and development, accelerating upstream and downstream collaboration, and promoting the integration of the industrial chain may become the keys to success.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 2, 2024 | Data Management, Manufacturing IT, News, Operations Management, Sustainability
- “Spotlight on the Future” Report Highlights How PLM and Digital Thread Solutions Address Key Challenges with Sustainability Data Accuracy, Availability, and Analysis
- Aras Research Finds That Three Out of Four Companies Feel Pressured by Regulation, Customers, Investors, and Employees to Become More Sustainable
Most news invading my email client these days involves companies sending out some questionnaires and compiling a report. This one from PLM and Digital Thread developer Aras called “Spotlight on the Future 2024,” focuses on sustainability.
The report highlights that three out of four companies say they feel pressured by customers, investors, and even their own workforce to operate more sustainably. The research also uncovered a potential reason why in-demand sustainability initiatives are not implemented sooner: a majority of companies reported that in order to do so, they must greatly improve the collection and processing of their data.
“Progress towards greater sustainability is key to continuing economic advancement,” said Roque Martin, CEO of Aras. Whether in the U.S., Europe, or Japan, 90% of companies who took our survey say that management has already recognized that sustainability is an important contributor to future business success.”
The so-called three Rs – reduce, reuse and recycle – already play a central role in the implementation of companies’ sustainability goals. 83% of the companies surveyed said that the lower consumption of raw materials and products is already a high priority. In addition, 70% of companies are already relying on the use of recycled machines, the conversion of existing systems, and the return of materials to the economic cycle. Interestingly, with 84% of companies reducing, 72% reusing, and 70% recycling, industrial companies in the United States are at the front of the pack when compared to other nations’ sustainability efforts.
74% of respondents acknowledge that they are missing data (i.e. from suppliers); 72% of companies said they have poorly prepared data; and 67% admit that they simply lack the ability to properly manage their data.
A throwaway economy is being replaced by a production model based on reuse. However, for the transition from linear resource processing to a circular economy to succeed, companies have to think about and plan their development and production processes differently. To fully take advantage of the green potential, companies must not only collect and analyze their data from the design and manufacturing phase, but also integrate the supply chain.
Aras’ “Spotlight on the Future 2024” study, conducted in December 2023, surveyed 835 executives from Europe, the US, and Japan. Survey participants work in companies with a minimum turnover of 40 million euros in the automotive, aerospace & defense, mechanical engineering, medical technology, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and food industries.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 1, 2024 | News, Sustainability
Many new notes have come my way touting material innovations developing non-petroleum-based plastics. These biodegradable plastics hold great promise for reducing our waste problems globally. This news comes in the manufacturing component area from Siemens.
- Siemens circuit breaker is the first electrical safety product to use plastic components where fossil raw materials have been replaced by biomethane derived from recycled biowaste.
- The material changeover in the SIRIUS 3RV2 circuit breaker production will reduce the emission of carbon dioxide equivalents by ~270 tons per year
- SIRIUS 3RV2 is one of the first products covered by the recently launched Siemens EcoTech label
Siemens Smart Infrastructure and BASF have announced the first electrical safety product to include components made from biomass-balanced plastics. Used across industrial and infrastructure applications, Siemens SIRIUS 3RV2 circuit breaker is now being manufactured using Ultramid BMBcertTM and Ultradur BMBcertTM from BASF, where fossil feedstock at the beginning of the value chain is replaced by biomethane derived from renewable sources such as agricultural waste. Both materials offer the same quality and performance as conventional plastics. The material changeover in the SIRIUS 3RV2 circuit breaker production will reduce the emission of carbon dioxide equivalents by ~270 tons per year1. Customers using these products contribute to a circular economy towards a more sustainable future.
The move supports Siemens´ sustainability goals in the areas of decarbonization and resource efficiency, outlined within its DEGREE framework, with the company following a 1.5°C science-based decarbonization target, including a 90 percent reduction target for scope 1 and 2 until 2030, and the application of a Robust Eco Design for 100 percent of relevant product families by 2030.
In the coming months, Siemens plans to expand the use of sustainable materials across the broader SIRIUS industrial controls portfolio. In addition to product design and features, as well as manufacturing and supply processes, the choice of materials plays a major role in further reducing carbon emissions and conserving natural resources. The SIRIUS 3RV2 circuit breaker meets the strict criteria of the recently introduced Siemens EcoTech label, designed to give customers a comprehensive insight into product performance across selected environmental criteria. In addition to most of the product housing and functional parts being made from biomass-balanced plastic, the product also offers lower power consumption over its lifetime compared to its predecessor.
by Gary Mintchell | May 23, 2024 | News, Operations Management, Sustainability
Emissions management relates to many things. Ecology, cleaning the environment, climate change. In an industrial context, I think it is the essence of Lean—reduction of waste. That is a business value as well as other values. Honeywell has added many products and services over the past few years. This one is interesting.
Honeywell and Weatherford on May 9 announced a partnership to deliver a comprehensive emissions management solution for the energy industry. The agreement combines Honeywell’s emissions management suite with Weatherford’s Cygnet SCADA platform, providing customers with a powerful tool to monitor, report, and take measures to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, flammable hydrocarbons, and other potentially dangerous and toxic gases.
The integrated solution enables upstream oil and gas operators to track emissions data in near real-time, identify and address potential issues, and meet regulatory requirements. The collaboration also provides customers with access to advanced analytics and reporting capabilities, helping them make data-driven decisions to reduce emissions, improve environmental performance and meet their environmental goals.
The collaboration is part of Honeywell’s broader effort to help the energy industry reduce its environmental footprint. In addition, it also further supports Honeywell’s alignment of its portfolio with three compelling megatrends, including the energy transition.
