SUSTAINABILITY SPOTLIGHT | 6 Examples like Toyota highlight that there is a growing focus on sustainability in industry, but many manufacturers still need convincing to change their practices, especially when they cannot see their waste. Waste is just one part of the sustainability picture “Remember the hype around Google Glasses a few in industry, but because there is so much of it, it is a years ago?” Steve muses. “Imagine putting on a pair very important part. As Steve notes, it is also an easy in a factory and getting visual access to the energy place to start when a company wants to improve its use of machines in real time, say, as a symbol that environmental impact, and making sustainability easy is changes in size according to energy spend. Such instant crucial. With good and accessible data, it is even easier. visualisation of invisible waste could be a very powerful tool.” Drawing with data Dr Duanyang Geng recently completed his PhD at the Manufacturing a sustainable world IfM, under Steve’s supervision. Duanyang has been Industrial sustainability at the IfM goes beyond the working for years to understand how industry uses data work of the eponymous CIS. From using machine to conceptualise energy waste – one of manufacturing’s learning to tackle problems of wasted space on lorries, most elusive and widespread forms of waste. For his to making sophisticated use of additive manufacturing thesis, he interviewed 30 manufacturers about their (3D printing), and helping SMEs to bene昀椀t from digital energy use, trying to establish what they perceive tracking tools, di昀昀erent groups are investing time energy waste to be and what they do to avoid it. working to manufacture a more sustainable world. In various ways, they are bringing to light what industry “There is no such thing as energy waste in nature,” and consumers overlook or ignore, providing simple says Duanyang. “Energy waste is intimately linked to solutions for improvement. human industrial practices, so it is up to us to de昀椀ne what separates energy waste from energy use. My many “Not long ago, I had a lovely email from someone who interviews informed my working de昀椀nition of energy works for a company that made some signi昀椀cant CO2 waste as whatever energy is used on top of what is and 昀椀nancial savings thanks to watching videos on strictly necessary to produce something. The invisibility our research. We have not worked with this company, of energy adds complexity here – manufacturers can’t but they were able to make big changes based on the physically see the energy they use, so they don’t higher-level principles we have observed, which say automatically know where their benchmarks are. With that there is probably more waste energy, water and digital tracking software, the kilowatt-hours, £/$ and materials in your factory than you think. Go looking. CO2 equivalents can be made visible and translatable.” This company went looking, they found areas for improvement, and they improved,” says Steve. “It can be As Duanyang observes, digital tracking software has that easy, but it still needs to be done.” real potential to help manufacturers, but it remains an underused resource, especially in small and medium- sized (SME) manufacturers. Tracking tools can provide 昀椀gures on energy use, temperature, downtime and more, which can be useful in themselves and also in creative translations.