Environmental Knowledge-Sharing in Manufacturing

Thomas E. Graedel

Summary: Yat TamCritique: Newlyn Hui

BYOB

How many of you plan to own your own business in the future?

How to design a successful product?

Introduction to a Product DesignGate Concepts in ManufacturingEnvironmental Knowledge at the GatesWalk Thru Gates 1-5.

Gate Concepts in ManufacturingManagers want to simulate their designs and development staff to generate ideas for new products. Only a few of these ideas become successful.Carrying every product idea from concept to manufacture is too expensive.Solution: Product Realization Process (PRP)

Product Realization Process

Structured process to guide business decisions. ( Ulrich and Eppinger, 1995)Involves 5 decision steps called “gates” to aid in decision to whether the product development should be permitted to the next level.At the end of each gate, a review is measured on marketability, manufacturing ability, economics, strategy, and $COST.

PRP continued…

The Environment at the Gates…

PRP gate reviews often omit consideration of environmental issues.Relevant environmental information is often not presented even if it is available within the corporation.In principle, IF the environment is considered at each gate, a better overall decision is likely to be made.

Gate1: Concept to Preliminary Design

Does this concept appear to meet a customer need? Is it consistent with the corporate product line? Does it have potential to compete effectively?

Basically, Gate1 discourages product concepts that involve unfavorable environmental attributes, such as the use of forbidden or highly regulated substances.

Gate2: Preliminary Design to Mature Design

Activities are limited to sketches, conceptual CAD/CAM products, lists of preferred materials.Do the estimated performance specifications meet the product goals? Is the design visually attractive? Is the product likely to profitable?Evaluation over the environmental aspect of the design approaches for both the product and process.

Gate3: Mature Design to Development

At this stage, the design team presents detailed information on the product design and moderately detailed information on the associated manufacturing process.

Are there technical impediments to development? Are the manufacturing processes satisfactory? Are the electrical and mechanical goals for the product fully realized? Will the product have customer appeal?

Gate3 - Environmental Checklist

“Streamlined” life cycle assessment (SLCA) (Graedel,1998).

For an entire range of potential environmental impacts, each product life stage is evaluated: premanufacture, manufacture, product delivery, product use, and the end of life.

Gate3 – Environmental checklist

Gate4: Development to Manufacture

Have the cost estimates been met? Is the product manufacturability satisfactory? Has a reliable set of suppliers been identified? Will the final manufactured product retain the desirable characteristics identified in Gate3?Most of the environmental concern will have been identified at this gate, but product delivery implications can be addressed in detail.

Gate5: Manufacture to Sales and Use

Business involves review of the degree to which the product manufacturing meets expectations and the way in which the marketing campaign should move forward.

Product delivery and marketing activities will meet environmental goals, and whether provisions need to be made for end-of-life activities.

Examples: Product takeback and battery recycling.

Heads up…

Conclusions

A wealth of environmental information is available within corporations to aid in the decision-making steps of the PRP. However many corporations have not implemented procedures to integrate that information into their decision making.The important factor is that there is a mechanism in place to guarantee the use of information at PRP gate reviews.When that mechanism is established, there is great potential for benefits to the environment and, increasingly, to the responsible corporations themselves.

The Big Finish!

In a more understandable context…

F (environmental management planning) = individual corporation success.

Paper’s Critique

Newlyn Hui

Objective of Paper

To effectively share environmental knowledge in manufacturing.

Strong introduction statement:There exists a wealth of environmental knowledge, but it is “diffusely distributed”

Example

A person may know different types of materials a company purchases & use.Another may know the energy consumption of manufacturing facilities and process by products.Still another may know about how new products are designed and readily recycled.Yet -- “No one person, however, is likely to know of all things”.

The point is…

“If environmental information is considered in the gate decision, a better overall decision is likely to be made.“

However, "What is less common is to see this information used as an integral part of corporate decision making, although it could and should be."

Quick Overview…

Weak argument throughout the paper on how the environmental concerns should be addressed.Gates 1 Not necessary

Gates 2 to 3 Consideration of materials and processes

Gates 3 to 5 Manufacture, product delivery, product use,

marketing / advertising, sales, and end of life.

Paper’s Conclusion

So that when a mechanism (PRP) is established, there is a great potential for benefits to the environment, and increasingly, to the responsible corporations themselves.

Product Stages

At each stage of the product life cycle, if knowledge is exchanged on how to more effectively use, handle, dispose of, or remanufacture a product or material.

Pros…

Companies’ environmental impact may include supplier chain that they manage such as recyclers and remanufactures. One example of this STARBUCKS where they are striving to purchase paper with higher levels of post-consumer recycled content and unbleached fiber.

Relatively Speaking

“However recognizing the distinctions between data, information, and knowledge--not always an easy task--is crucial to developing management approaches that leverage their relative values.” (Richards, 1997)

Cons…Measuring the effects of knowledge management Hard to quantify or demonstrate, ignored.

Fast-paced work environments. No time to cover old ground or reinvent wheel.

Rapid employee turnover, downsizing, and early retirement. In a survey of 80 organizations conducted by the Dutch

Management Network, 80 percent of respondents reported that only one or two persons within their organization had knowledge of critical business processes (Brooking, 1996)

Cons…

Hype and distrust Over 40,000 environmentally related Internet sites

are accessible through the EnviroLink Network, "the largest online environmental information resource on the planet" (Knauer, 1997).

In a survey of management consulting firms--self-proclaimed experts in managing knowledge capital--"less than a quarter of firms in [the] survey said they used the much touted Internet to support" basic knowledge management activities (Reimus, 1997).

Hoarding of knowledge Knowledge is power

Cons…

Bureaucracy of knowledge management Stifle creative and collaborative processes

Overly technical solutions Overemphasized technology will not

satisfy real needs. Advanced technology is of little value if difficult to use

Legal issues Intellectual property and data ownership

of information can prevent sharing

Questions?