What if you could reduce the environmental impact of your manufacturing processes whilst improving ergonomics for your operators? And achieving this with increased profitability? Well, you can. The answer lies in industrial automation.
Sustainability matters to your current and future customers, your employees, partners and stakeholders and is quickly becoming a question of survival. Companies not acknowledging the need to adapt to more sustainable operations will ultimately become obsolete. Sustainability should therefore be on the short and long term agenda of tomorrow’s successful businesses.
Manufacturers can minimize their environmental footprint by implementing smarter and more resource efficient manufacturing processes. Simply put, to do more with less. But this needs to be accomplished while also improving one key corporate KPI, profitability. Automation provides a viable solution to achieving this and much more.
First of all, automation offers means for a repeatable, reliable and stable production that minimizes the risk for human errors in manufacturing. Something that in turn can reduce the number of reworks and recalls that cost valuable material and energy resources. And not to be dismissed, automating tiresome, hazardous and heavy manufacturing processes improves ergonomics in the workplace making for a better and safer working environment for operators.
Secondly, there is the improved level of manufacturing tolerance and traceability that automation offers. Automated processes can operate at a higher level of tolerance, or more precisely, thereby reducing the amount of needed material in production. Automation also enables a more accurate traceability throughout the manufacturing process. This improves the ability to quickly react to and address production deviations which decreases for example the amount of scrap. In addition, traceability also enables more predictive maintenance which further reduces resource waste.
How are we adapting to more sustainable practices?
In the Atlas Copco Group we are committed to science-based targets to reduce emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. In doing this, we take a holistic view on our carbon impact, from energy efficiency to a more sustainable supply chain. It is about improving resource efficiency and driving more sustainable manufacturing processes. In short, helping ourselves and our customers do more with less.
The following objectives play an imperative part in the design and development of our products and solutions driving automation:
- Implementation of simulation and digital twin technologies to optimize manufacturing processes
- Modularity design principles that enable retrofitting equipment to new customer products and modules
- Ensure, already on the drawing board, that products can easily be de-assembled for repair or recycling
- Reduce energy consumption and risk for leakage by moving from pneumatic to electric tools
- Utilize environmental friendly and recycled materials but also software solutions that offer energy saving functions
- Optimize products for their specific intended area of use, or in other words, to be the very best and most efficient at a specific operation in the manufacturing process
All in all, design and development advancements combined with market leading experience and know-how that offer you a helping hand to fulfil your sustainability targets. Automated and more sustainable production processes reengineered by Atlas Copco.
To learn more about the Atlas Copco automation offering, contact us today!