Sustainable Design and

Manufacturing:
Can we
“Engineer our way”
to a Sustainable Future?

BY
QUAZI T Z
 Outline

• Defining sustainability
• Sustainability in an engineering context
• Sustainability in a manufacturing context
• Summary and tasks
One good definition of sustainability-
So…what does sustainable mean?

"an economic state where the demands placed upon the environment
by people and commerce can be met without reducing the capacity of
the environment to provide for future generations.....your business
must deliver clothing, objects, food or services to the customer in a
way that reduces consumption, energy use, distribution costs, economic
concentration,soil erosion, atmospheric pollution, and other forms of
environmental damage. Leave the world better than you found it."
 Then…what does sustainable require?
If you are presently at a sustainable state…then meet the demands
of today without compromising our ability to meet the demands of
the future. This is a net zero impact.

If you are NOT presently at a sustainable state…then meet the demands

of today without compromising our ability to meet the demands of
the future by reducing the environmental load/unit of commerce to offset
any increase in unit production so as to achieve a sustainable state over
time.

That is, in the words of Hawken, your business must deliver clothing,
objects, food or services to the customer in a way that reduces
consumption, energy use, distribution costs, economic concentration,
soil erosion, atmospheric pollution, and other forms of environmental
damage at a rate greater than the normal growth in consumption
would require. Business must have a “net positive impact.”
 Sustainability Frame of Reference
Consumption*
Rate of

Sustainable rate

•Any resource: energy,

material, water,air …

Today Future
How do we achieve this
“slope change”?
 Mind the gap!
Responses to the situation
Time Scale Response Drivers

Short regulations (green buildings gov’t/EU market

Energy Star, CAFÉ, etc.) driven

Medium alternate energy, hybrids, H2, resource limits and

photovoltaic long range market

Long tools to engineer sustainable change of approach,

systems, life cycle env costs holistic view of effects
included in product cost
 Think Global - Act Local
Design and Manufacturing - think supply chain…act process

Is the process - coupled?

- decoupled?

with respect to environmental impacts (materials,

energy required, consumables, waste generated)
 Think supply chain…act process
Questions:

- Can you improve the process/product without

affecting up/down stream processes/products?
- If you cannot…what is the impact on adjacent elements?
- What are the “closed loop” parts of the design or process?

Process1 Process2 Process3 … ProcessN

DRAFT
 More details

Let’s define the terms more specifically wrt manufacturing…

 Closed Loop Manufacturing: Renewing Functions
while Circulating Material

Source: T. Tani, “Product Development and Recycle System for Closed Substance Cycle Society,”
Proc. Environmentally Conscious Design and Inverse Manufacturing, 1999, 294-299.

Ref: S. Takata, et al, “Maintenance: Changing Role in Life Cycle Management,” Annals CIRP, 53, 2, 2004, 643-655
 Closed Loop Manufacturing: Renewing Functions
while Circulating Material

• Each orbit in the figure corresponds to a life cycle option, such as

prolonged use by means maintenance, product reuse, part reuse,
recycling, and energy recovery.

• To realize “closed-loop manufacturing” the product life cycle should

be managed by selecting proper life cycle options.

• In selecting life cycle options, need to consider the environmental

performance or “eco-efficiency” of the option…defined as the ratio
of provided value to environmental load.

• The closer the “loop” is to the user…the lower the load on the
environment.
Source: S. Takata, et al, “Maintenance: Changing Role in Life Cycle Management,” Annals CIRP, 53, 2, 2004, 643-655
Product design, manufacturing and recovery
Detail design

DFA

DFE
LCA
Product Process selection/ Manufacturing
development
definition

Recycling organizations

End-of-life All included

in Sustainability
 Closer Focus on Manufacturing

“Ecofacturing*”
or “Ecomanufacturing**” Green Machines

Green
Clean Power Manufacturing
Processes

Green Products
Evolution of Production Paradigms

Green…yes…
but…is
this really
sustainable?
 Key transitions
What’s needed to make the last transition?

Automation
“F. W. Taylor”

Computer Aided
Manufacturing (CAM)
“M. E. Merchant”

Lean Manufacturing
“Toyoda, et al”

Positive Impact Manufacturing

Key to each transition- the enabler

Break complex tasks into

elements;
organization and control

Move non-essential
elements outside
productive time

Minimize working capital

(cost of lack of quality)

Include whole life cycle cost

of environmental impact
 Dimensions of design, manufacturing and environment

co$t
design
(functionality,
complexity,
life) (energy, consumables,
waste, hazards, end-of-life)

production/distribution
(quality, yield, throughput, flexibility/lean)
 So….what do we learn from all this?
• Think globally…act locally!
think corporate…..act departmentally!
think department…act system!
think system…act process!
think process….act machine!
think machine…act tool! (ok…ok…point made)
• Waste, of any resource (time, money, energy, space,
consumables, etc.) costs…..eliminate waste (follow
Deming!)
• Make the business case for sustainable manufacturing
by including life cycle cost of environmental impact
• Include your suppliers/distributers in this through the design
process
• Need analytical/engineering tools (design/process plan) to
enable decisions/tradeoffs
 How do we respond as engineers?
• Make sure we evaluate the “real” impact of our technical solutions
in terms of how much of the “gap” we are removing (i.e. how
much is a particular technology “wedge” going to reduce the
gap?*) OR design our technical solutions to have the largest
impact on the gap.
• Make the business case for sustainable manufacturing
by including life cycle cost of environmental impact (the “true
cost” of the product including the ‘environmental capital’)
• Include the supply chain in this through the design process
• Develop analytical/engineering tools (design/process plan) to
enable decisions/tradeoffs based on life cycle costs…ie
EnviroCAD
• Make sure to include our social science/policy friends in the
discussion as there will be “side effects”
• Capitalize on the technology innovations as entrepreneurs
• Educate…educate…educate
•