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This Earth Day, Capitalize on This Easy Way to Reduce Manufacturing Waste

This Earth Day, Capitalize on This Easy Way to Reduce Manufacturing Waste

The idea of manufacturers celebrating Earth Day this April 22nd may seem disconcerting at first. After all, manufacturers are responsible for generating 30 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions. However, the picture is far more complex than it seems. In fact, manufacturers have the opportunity to lead on sustainability: reducing waste, decreasing emissions, and preserving resources for generations to come.

Manufacturing and other industry company leaders are concerned about the growing impacts of climate change, with rising temperatures, droughts, floods, and raw material scarcity. That’s why 71.9 percent of U.S. manufacturers already have a sustainability policy, while another 8.3 percent are developing one.

Manufacturers Are Leading on Sustainability

Industry leaders are implementing different strategies. Some manufacturers have adopted circular economy business models: developing products and ensuring their return, reuse, repair, and recycling. Others have transformed product manufacturing: adopting environmentally friendly and certified materials, lightweighting products, and reducing or eliminating plastic from manufacturing processes. In addition, many manufacturers are increasing use of renewable energy, such as solar or wind energy, to reduce fossil fuel use.

These changes are important, but may take time and significant investment to achieve. A McKinsey survey found that 40 percent of all industry respondents expect their company’s sustainability programs to generate modest or significant value in the next five years, which is a long time to wait.

So, what happens when manufacturers want to move faster?

Strip Waste from Focus Lines and See Near-Term Results

Manufacturers can strip waste from current processes rapidly using the QAD Redzone Connected Workforce Solution. This tool pairs Lean production techniques with a mobile app that frontline teams use to collaborate, monitor production line performance in real-time, improve product quality and equipment reliability, and learn new skills. Factories deploying the solution work with coaches to adopt digital processes and new standard work. After just 90 days, factories are able to drive overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) by an average of 14 points and improve productivity by an average of 29%. Imagine — 5 days of production throughput in 4!

In addition, QAD Redzone helps teams address these sources of manufacturing waste:

• Improving OEE: By improving OEE, teams can reduce unplanned stops and changeovers, which generate waste.
• Adopting paperless processes: Teams use QAD Redzone to adopt 100% digital compliance processes, enabling easier access to data and ending paper waste.
• Improving product quality: With real-time data and digital processes, teams can zero in on quality issues and quickly solve them. That means factories generate more first-quality products, reducing scrap and rework, as well as decreasing customer returns.

This Earth Day, deploy QAD Redzone. You’ll make production processes more sustainable and get results you can share with key stakeholders in just 90 days.