Environmental Leader

Best-in-class manufacturers typically reduce their energy consumption by 24 percent compared to laggard companies that increase their energy use by 6 percent, according to new benchmarking research from Aberdeen Group.

Other findings reveal that best-in-class companies also reduce their emissions by 30 percent, outperform goals for operating margin by 19 percent, and achieve 89 percent overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)

The report, “Sustainable Production: Good for the Plant, Good for the Planet,” also shows that best-in-class companies allow role-based visibility into emissions data and provide executives with real-time visibility into energy data. They are also more likely to have a chief sustainability officer onboard. The upshot: Companies need to provide visibility into their environmental data in order to reduce energy consumption and emissions in their manufacturing operations.

The survey also reveals that 94 percent of respondents say energy efficiency is the top focus for their companies, followed by waste reduction (78 percent), environmental impact (78 percent) and reuse/recycling (72 percent).

The top driver for sustainable production is to achieve a competitive advantage in the marketplace, according to 40 percent of respondents. This is followed closely by the need to ensure compliance to current and future regulations, say 39 percent of respondents.

Other drivers include bottom-line financials (38 percent) and customers demanding eco-friendly products (29 percent).

The report also provides several recommendations on how companies can improve their sustainability performance. These range from establishing a formal sustainability program and executive leadership role to automating data collection and establishing performance metrics.