DRIVERS TO GREEN MANUFACTURING

Green manufacturing is a promising tool for increasing plant efficiency and benefits of planet, but at the same time applying green manufacturing in an industry is a big investment initially and thus companies are not much interested in making their companies green. There are various driving forces due to which companies are moving towards green manufacturing, these are:

 Fig: drivers of Green Manufacturing

v  GOVERNMENT PRESSURE (i.e. Regulations, Penalties and Tax Benefits): This can be visualized by terms like regulations, as well as penalties, tax benefits or sponsorship are main drivers. One of the highest impacts is caused by the generally increasing energy costs which lead to an overall rethinking and new approaches. Other than this there are many policies and quality standards which led to application of green manufacturing in an organization these are:

·         ISO14000

·         EURO standards for emission control and BS (Bharat Stage) standards for INDIA.

·         IPCC

v  CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT:

Improve constantly and forever.

                                                            -- One of DEMING’s 14 points.

Continuous improvement leads to better quality, industrial environment and greater profits thus continuous improvement has become an inevitable part of organization. Green manufacturing also supports the same ideology.

v  COMPETITION: Another driver is the competitive advantages that a company is able to obtain in the market through implementation of sustainable manufacturing strategies. The main indicator therefore is the consumer himself. Due to the public’s awareness and concerns, implementing green manufacturing principles can enhance a company’s image in the society and also can generate higher revenues, and increase market share, as a consequence. Though long term but if implemented Green Manufacturing tactfully in the industry there is always gain in productivity either by decreasing scrap, input raw material, energy or by having better working conditions which will benefit the organization. Thus there is always competitive benefit of applying Green Manufacturing in long term.

v  PRESSURE FROM CUSTOMERS/ SOCIETY AND CONSUMERS: Satisfying consumer in all prospective is the main goal of company, this is because customer is the one which builds a company by purchasing its goods and services. Now as customer has become more aware of environmental consequences and thus including green manufacturing techniques helps satisfy customers.

v  SCARCITY OF RESOURCES AND ITS RISK: Infinite economic growth cannot be performed in a finite world, but humans have been quite smart at finding solutions for the problem of scarcity in natural resources. Many manufacturing companies are faced with problems concerning the acquisition of raw materials. Next to fossil fuels, as a classic, some of the recent issues are related to metals, uranium, noble earths, and also fresh water. Faced with the scarcity and the coexisting price pressure, the gap for new technologies and industries came up, dealing with the recycling of materials and alternative, more environmentally friendly mining technologies.

v  TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES: to apply Green manufacturing in an organization there is need of technical advance machinery which also increase company’s technical status and increase productivity due to increase efficiency of new and advanced machinery.

v COMPETITIVE DIFFERENTIATION: Green manufacturing also brings competitive differentiation to an organization this is particularly aimed by first or new movers (those organizations which are able to break ice between short term higher cost and other benefits).

v  SELF MOTIVATION: Nature is humankind’s mother. This is the ideology that we are becoming aware of now. Humans know if nature is destroyed humankind is nowhere to survive. This provides self-motivation to make good that are environment friendly and green.

Green has moved from being perceived as a ‘necessary evil’ to being seen as ‘good business’. Companies that undertake Green initiatives stand to be advantaged on brand enhancement, Political traction and regulatory compliance, greater ability to attract and retain talent, enhanced customer retention and potential cost savings. However, these benefits require a long term commitment and making tradeoffs against short term objectives, as the economics of Green manufacturing are not well understood yet.