The change opportunity: Sustainability in design and manufacturing

Approximately 19% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from the manufacturing industry. Faced with regulatory mandates to cut GHGs and given customer demand for change, manufacturers have a strong incentive to reinvent how they operate.

Driving sustainable outcomes in design and manufacturing will require change, but those who make the switch successfully stand to reap substantial benefits. These include savings on energy and material costs, faster product design and manufacturing times, and more durable and resilient products.

One way to make this switch is through digitalization. In the pursuit of lower GHG emissions, this is an important strategy for reducing energy and materials usage. Additive manufacturing (3D printing) is just one example of applying this strategy in practice.

Another way to drive sustainable outcomes is to support the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy. Transitioning the entire economy to circularity could cut GHG emissions in Europe in half by 2030. Globally, a transition to a circular economy could generate more than USD 1 trillion in material cost savings by 2025. Such a transition means designing with durability, repairability, reusability, and recyclability in mind to keep the products, components, and materials circulating in the economy.

Circular solutions also offer benefits for health and resilience. For instance, in China, fly-ash tiles help alleviate the health impacts of coal burning, while roads made from recycled plastic mitigate plastic pollution, climate change, and flooding in the Netherlands.

Is your organization considering a move toward more sustainable outcomes? Or perhaps you want to persuade them to do so? This e-book explores various aspects of such an undertaking and examines a wide range of approaches.

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