Develop new research based knowledge and solutions to foster the green transition of manufacturing processes
Manufacturing is today, as it always has been, a cornerstone of the economy of all the developed countries. A strong base of manufacturing impels and stimulates all the other sectors of economy, it has been calculated in 2001 by the Association of Manufacturing Technology (AMT) that each $1 million in sales of manufacturing goods produced in US supports eight jobs in manufacturing sector and an additional six jobs in other sectors, that means an average of 14 jobs are created by the US manufacturing industry for each $1 million in sales. What is more manufacturing provides a wide variety of jobs, both blue- and white- collar jobs, which bring higher standards of living to many sectors in society and builds a strong middle class. Last it is worth to remember that manufacturing, like art and agricolture, creates something of value from nothing. Summarising, as prof. Koren stated in his book “Global manufacturing Revolutions“, manufacturing creates wealth for all the society, and will remain the foundation of a strong economy, no other sector can replace it and other sectors will collapse without manufacturing.
This can be considered as an assumption on the modern Society, then we have to consider the work of Dr. Diamond “Collapse“ where he reviews the causes of historical and pre-historical instances of societal collapse—particularly those involving significant influences from environmental changes, the effects of climate change, hostile neighbors, trade partners, and the society’s response to the foregoing four challenges—and considers the success or failure different societies have had in coping with such threats. In the last years all the data on energy consumption, global temperatures, CO2 levels in the atmosphere, other impacts of industrialization, and population growth head up, meaning things are moving toward more challenging, and less sustainable, conditions. The demand for goods is continuously increasing in developed countries and the people of developing countries (China, India and so on) are pushing to reach the same life standards of people in developed countries: this means that the production of goods will increase more and more in the next years. Regardless of an individual’s feeling toward the severity of the situation, it is clear that something must change to reduce our footprint on the environment where we live in. Governments are deliberating on this aspect, and the words “green” and “sustainable” are day by day more important. The world commission on environment and development defined the sustainable development as: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Focusing our attention on manufacturing it is worth to recall the U.S. department of commerce definition of sustainable manufacturing: the creation of manufacturing products that use materials and processes that minimize negative environmental impacts, conserve energy and natural resources, are safe for employees, communities and consumers and are economically sound. In this context the term green can be used as a verb which would then refer to the process of reducing the environmental impact of a manufacturing process or system when compared to the previous state. Green manufacturing, or environmentally conscious manufacturing, addresses the dilemma of maintaining a progressive worldwide economy without continuing to damage our environment.
There are a number of drivers motivating the manufacturing industry towards green manufacturing practices:
•pressure from government,
•interest in efficiency/reduced cost of ownership,
• scarcity of resources,
•continuous improvement,
•pressure from society/consumers/customers,
• desire to maintain market leadership,
•insure to control supply chain effects.