VOLUME 1 NUMBER 1 1994

Design and the Environment

Gregg Tong Management Roundtable Inc.
Environmental issues in manufacturing are not a fadand must become an integral part of the product development process. This was the sentiment shared by those participating in the Management Roundtables Second Annual Congress on Environmentally-conscious Design and Manufacturing: From Best Practices to Profit, a conference held in Dearborn, Michigan, USA. All the companies which supported this conference, including Apple Computer, AT&T, General Motors, 3M Corporation and Xerox Corporation share the common goal of integrating environmental factors into the design and manufacturing of products, not just for the good of the Earth, but for the good of the bottom line as well. One of the key issues surrounding the decision of whether or not to implement corporate environmental programmes is the cost. Many are intimidated by the time, effort and money that must be committed to such a programme to ensure its success. The group of speakers at this conference showed that environmental factors, even aside from regulatory issues, are becoming essential to competitiveness, and is not the money pit that many think it is. In fact, it can be just the opposite. Much of the language and issues surrounding environmentally-conscious manufacturing is similar to the language of the quality movement. Why? Because, as seen at this conference, they share many of the same goals. individual champions come together, to find out they are not alone, to hear stories which answer their practical problems and breed optimism, and to send them back to their organizations with the ideas, knowledge, and motivation to continue the charge.

Industrial Ecology
In his keynote address, Dr Robert Frosch, VicePresident of North American Operations at General Motors, introduced the concept of industrial ecology, which suggests Mother Nature as a model for industry. Specifically, noted Dr Frosch, We seek movement toward lower waste production, and toward a system of industrial linkages that may mimic the efficiency with which natural ecological systems deal with waste. Using the food chain as a model, one can see how natural ecological systems seem to operate as waste minimization systems. That is, the waste produced by individual organisms is used as food by other organisms, whose own waste may be food for other organisms and so on down the chain. In this instance, waste ceases to be waste, and becomes a valuable by-product. Industry needs to take the same approach by investigating ways to both minimize waste and learn how to turn waste into a profitable product.

Enhances Quality Necessary Ingredient

What seemed to be the consensus of the participants at this conference is that environmental practices are not an optional addon to the quality recipe, but a necessary ingredient. This should be no surprise to the many environmental champions at various companies, who are meeting the same demand for project justification that was met by such quality directives as concurrent engineering, design for manufacturability, benchmarking, etc. The purpose of this conference was to help these These ideas were echoed by the next speaker, Deanna Richards of the National Academy of Engineering. In Dearborn, surrounded by Ford Motor Company research labs, it seemed natural for her to quote Henry Ford: Picking up and reclaiming scrap left over after production is a public service, but planning so that there will be no scrap is a higher public service. Increasing consumer awareness of environmental issues makes this attitude an imperative. Not only are customers demanding companies to manufacture greener products, but to also have greener manufacturing processes. Ms Richards noted how environmental improvement can be found in strange and unusual places. For example, the increasing use of snap-fit fasteners as opposed to

World Class Design to Manufacture, Vol. 1 No. 1, 1994, pp. 39-41 MCB University Press, 1352-3074

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screws was originally intended to ease manufacturability and assembly, but also contributes to ease of disassembly and recycling. This illustrates how many quality programmes are already set up to accommodate the environmental factor, again reinforcing the idea that DFE is not an add-on feature to quality, but a quality enhancer.

Life Cycle Design

The next speaker, Jack Azar from Xerox Corporation, detailed his companys efforts to employ life-cycle design to create a corporate recycling infrastructure. Xerox strongly believes that environmental friendliness will become a customer requirement in the 1990s, and is taking the appropriate actions to prepare. As an attempt to respond to public concerns over the solid waste problem posed by xerographic equipment, Xerox has established programmes to implement life cycle design and design for environment (DFE). Guided by customer feedback in the form of surveys and other research, and helped by the early enlistment of senior management support, Xerox has successfully made environmental concerns a product requirement. The Xerox programme begins by defining customer requirements, establishing an asset recycle management organization to assist engineering teams, incorporating DFE into the product delivery process, developing training courses for their engineers, including environmental requirements in all product design reviews and assessments, establishing an effective method for recovery of used products, and sharing the DFE ethic with suppliers. As a result, Xerox has a goal of having nil per cent of end-of-life parts headed for landfills, instead finding ways to remanufacture, reuse and recycle as much as possible.

cure-all for pollution prevention. Added David Berg, director of technology policy for the EPAs pollution prevention staff: The companies who are truly successful with their environmental programmes are those whose policies are proactive rather than reactiveThe EPA wants to encourage DFE, TEQM and related programmes. What we need is to find ways in which industry and government can communicate effectively. Mark Greenwood, the EPAs director of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, stressed how industry can get involved by joining voluntary pollution prevention efforts such as the EPAs 33/50, Green Lights, Golden Carrot, and Energy Star programmes, or private programmes such as the Chemical Manufacturers Associations Responsible Care Programme or the carmanufacturers Vehicle Recycling Partnership. Another way to stay informed on regulatory factors is to follow the progress of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the nations foremost statute dealing with solid wastes, which is currently on the agenda for reauthorization by the103rd Congress.

Automobile Recycling
As an example of a successful resource recovery and recycling programme, few car manufacturers can claim to equal the accomplishments of the famed German firm, BMW. Karl-Heinz Ziwica, general manager of environmental engineering at BMW, spoke about his companys pilot automobile recycling programme in North America, an operation they plan to continue until 1995. The specific keys to successful implementation, stressed Mr Ziwica, was the fact they have been colour coding the differing plastic materials for the past 15 years, an essential practice for efficient dismantling, that they have developed specific disassembly methods and technologies, and that they transfer what is learned in the pilot programmes back into the initial design phase of all new products. Not only is BMW active in the efficient recycling of its products, but is also developing disassembly methods and technologies which are also environmentally friendly, such as special equipment for the easy removal of fluids.

Encouraging Environmental Programmes

Not to ignore the regulatory factors in environmentally-conscious manufacturing, Greg Eyring, senior analyst at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, spoke on the current status of the law and green product design, as well as how governmental policies can become more flexible. One way is by establishing voluntary agreements between industry and the government to meet environmental goals (the EPAs 33/50 and Green Lights programmes were given as examples). This is necessary to establish regulatory guidelines which encourage solutions other than recycling, often misperceived as a

Reducing Packaging
To address the product packaging issue, a favourite target of environmental activists because of its point-of-purchase exposure, attendees of the conference heard from Erin Craig, corporate environmental programs manager at Apple

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Computer Inc. Although Apple Computer has long held the philosophy of customer-focused product development, they were hesitant to agree to change their packaging from their signature bleached-white boxes to environmentally-friendly cardboard brown. More recently, Apple has taken this one step further in reducing packaging for their cables: eliminating cardboard containers, plastic bags and unnecessary documentation. Although, initially feared that the packaging change would cost the company money (marketing feared they would lose sales due to the uglier appearance), Apple has logged more than $4 million in savings from the switch, as well as almost $2 million dollars saved from minimizing cable packaging. Not only were there monetary benefits, but Apple consumers (whose demographics show they are educated to environmental concerns) praised the switch, much to the relief of Apples marketing department. In addition to their packaging reforms, Apple is also active in encouraging, and in some cases requiring, suppliers to implement environmental programmes of their own, showing by example how environmental programmes can increase and enhance quality improvements and profits.

Environmental Programmes Work

Three corporate leaders in total environmental quality management shared a panel to discuss how they have progressed from independent environmental initiatives to create integrated environmental quality programmes. Representatives from Baxter Healthcare, AT&T, and Texas Instruments agreed that the key to such programmes are rigorous benchmarking, in-depth training of all levels of employees, and a sincere commitment from upper management (not just lip service). The bottom-line message from this conference is that corporate environmental programmes work, and that they are essentially no different

from any other quality improvement measure, except that it has side benefits for the entire world, not just industry. What these programmes suffer from most is a negative image, an image generated by: q the topics close association with activist organizations (which sometimes generate negative publicity); q stringent governmental laws and regulations which can sometimes be environmentally detrimental rather than beneficial; q the same incorrect assumptions made about all quality movements in their initial phase: that it is change for the sake of change, that it is too costly and too time consuming, and that this is just another fad to make more money for consultants. Senior management should not have to be sold on the concept, it should and can sell itself. What separates this movement from others is that its focus is not on increasing profits (which it can), not on improving efficiency (which it can), and not on producing quality (which it does), but on preserving the natural balance and order of the planet earth. While this social-consciousness is the imperative, the substantial monetary and quality benefits must not be overlooked. Implementing company-wide environmental programmes is not just logical, its smart. In ten years, the companies surviving and thriving will tell you that.

For further information on this conference or conference proceedings which are available for US$195, contact Management Roundtable, 1050 Commonwealth Ave, Suite 301, Boston, MA 02215, USA. Tel: (617) 232 8080.

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