Today, concern for the environment has become one of the primary factors in making decisions in the manufacturing niche. With confirmations about the dangers of climate change and key benefits of conserving energy becoming clear, as a manufacturer, one of the primary questions that might be running through your mind is; “what is the best way to go green?” Here are some useful tips.

Use Digital Manufacturing

One of the methods that waste a lot of energy, resources, and time during manufacturing is physical pretesting of products. Think of the effort needed to physically create prototypes before working on the main product production? Now, you can cut these wastes by adopting digital manufacturing tools.

Instead of using physical pre-production lines, it is done via a computer. Equipment, production lines, material delivery, and even staff are all simulated to make production easy, faster, and efficient. Digital manufacturing can help to cut material flow costs by up to 35%.

Adopt Environmental Management Solutions

Environmental management solutions (EMS) are special practices used in manufacturing to reduce the impact on the environment and enhance operational efficiency. Two common examples used in most industries are the Six Sigma developed by Motorola and lean manufacturing designed by Toyota.

Most EMS systems are aimed at helping to cut wastes from manufacturing systems. This implies that you will need less raw materials and the overall cost will also go down. If you are not sure of how to apply EMS systems, consider hiring a consultant.

Evaluate the Industrial Drives and Motors

In industrial settings, electric drives and motors consume about 70% of the total energy. This is true, especially in the mining industrial facilities as pointed out here. To help reduce this cost, you should consider using more energy-efficient motors and drives. When you install more effective motors, it is possible to cut energy costs by up to 35%.

Control the Lighting and HVAC

Ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) take a significant percentage of industrial systems’ energy. If you are mindful of the HVAC system in your facility, it is possible to pull down related bills with a significant margin. Here are some tips to help keep your system’s HVAC system in top condition.

• Maintain your industrial system in top condition.
• Make sure to use programmable thermostats.
• Adopt energy-efficient lighting products.
• Consider using LED lighting.
• Design our HVAC to take advantage of natural cooling and heating.

Going green can help you to cut costs of operations while contributing to make the world a better place. Make sure you are part of this great undertaking by using the above strategies.