Application Center in China working towards sustainable production
Achieving sustainable production by reducing CO2 emissions is a key part of the mission of Atlas Copco's Industrial Assembly Solutions' Application Center in Shanghai, China. This is being done through transport optimization, local sourcing of components, and energy savings.
The Application Center’s goal is to be the preferred local supplier for customers in China sourcing Atlas Copco's SCA and Henrob product lines. The focus is on saving energy throughout the supply chain and achieving cost-efficient transportation to China of goods from overseas. Optimizing transport of components In 2017 the Application Center switched from air freight to sea freight for the transportation of Henrob self-pierce rivets from the U.K. to China. This achieved a 95.5% saving in CO2 emissions, from 386 tons to 17 tons, as well as major cost savings – payback was immediate. The facility is also working on improving the logistics of transporting SCA components from Germany for local assembly by switching from project-based air freight to forecast-based sea freight. Savings in CO2 emissions of about 2 660 tons are forecast for 2018. Increasing parts localization At the same time the team is working to increase the volume of components sourced locally. The strategy is: “Same brand, same specifications, but from China”. Progress is being made in this area as well and impressive savings have already been achieved in freight costs, customs duty, time, and CO2 emissions. Saving energy on-site A recent move into a new building in Shanghai provided opportunities to lower energy consumption by switching all lights to LED and installing insulated windows. These measures have reduced energy consumption by 75% per year and CO2 emissions by approximately 70 tons over the same period.