In many cases actions are straightforward and will deliver quick returns
-Professor Steve Evans
Imagine the changes required to transform a car factory into a place in which not one single kilogram of landfill waste is produced, and you are some way to understanding what is it the Next Manufacturing Revolution (NMR), a not for profit initiative comprising academics, strategy and enterprise experts, is hoping to achieve.
In the UK manufacturing industry, improvements to the workforce have already reduced costs and improved efficiency at a rate of 3% per annum since 2001, but so far the efficient use of materials, water and energy has been slower to follow suit. In the NMR’s new report, academics from the Department of Engineering’s Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) have collaborated with industrial partners to give practical advice on how the manufacturing sector in the UK can clean up its act, and boost its profits.
“We are very excited about the launch of NMR’s report and the beginning of its programme to drive forward greater efficiencies, and in turn productivity, profits and jobs, in the manufacturing sector”, says report co-author Professor Steve Evans of the University of Cambridge. “The changes that NMR’s programme advocates use proven technologies and have already been implemented by pioneering companies. In many cases actions are straightforward and will deliver quick returns.”
The report and subsequent programme claims it can help deliver significant benefits to the sector, including £10 billion per annum in additional profits and a 4.5% reduction in the UK’s total annual greenhouse gas emissions. It focuses on seven key areas including waste, energy, packaging and supply chain collaboration. These areas have been analysed within each of the manufacturing sub-sectors making it one of the most comprehensive analyses of resource management in UK manufacturing to date.
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Image: Green lego
Credit: Roberto Bouza on flickr
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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