Resource Efficient Design and Waste Reduction in Car Manufacturing

This report comprehensively examines resource-efficient design within the car manufacturing process, emphasizing waste reduction and sustainable practices. It begins with an overview of resource considerations throughout the car's lifecycle, highlighting the significance of efficient resource management. The main body delves into issues related to resource use and waste reduction, exploring the environmental and economic consequences of inefficient practices. The report then identifies and analyzes various interventions that can aid in reducing natural resource consumption, lowering energy levels, and minimizing waste generation. These interventions include forecasting waste reduction, implementing reduce, reuse, and recycle strategies, and conserving energy. Finally, the report provides recommendations for improving resource use and reducing waste, concluding with a summary of the key findings and their implications for the car manufacturing industry. The report underscores the growing importance of sustainable practices in manufacturing and offers practical insights for achieving greater resource efficiency.

RESOURCE EFFICIENT
DESIGN

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
Overview......................................................................................................................................1
Overview of the resource considerations within car manufacturing process life cycle...............1
Issues related to resource use and waste reduction in car manufacturing process......................3
Interventions that can help in natural resources reduction, energy level reduction and level of
waste generated in car manufacturing process............................................................................4
Recommendations for waste reduction and improved resource use............................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Waste reduction is a process through which wastage of resources or material used can be
reduced. Today it has become extremely important for organizations to focus on reducing waste
and improve usage of resources in a sustainable manner so that overall resources or energy
consumption by the organizations can be reduced (Jabbour, and de Sousa Jabbour, 2016).
Nowadays importance of waste reduction and improvement of resource usage is continuously
increasing so that excessive resources used can be reduced and environment can be protected in a
much better and efficient manner. This assignment will lay emphasis on resource considerations
within car manufacturing process life cycle, Issues related to resource use and waste reduction,
interventions that can be used for reduction of natural resources reduction, energy consumption
reduction, with least waste generation and recommendation to bring improvement within
resource use and reduce waste. Process chosen for this assignment is Car manufacturing process
as waste production in this process is quite high and large amount of resources are used in this
manufacturing process.
MAIN BODY
Overview
Today usage of natural resources is increasing continuously and because of this natural
resource amount is decreasing drastically. In fact, there are many natural resources that are on
the edge of becoming extent (Alwan, Jones and Holgate, 2017). Due to this it has become
important for organizations to focus on resource efficient designs both in industrial and non-
industrial context so that both resource and energy consumption can be reduced. Car
manufacturing industry is one of those industries in which waste generation is maximum, usage
of resources is high and because of this it is important for manufacturing industry organizations
to focus on their resources, energy consumption and reduce this consumption with waste
reduction.
Overview of the resource considerations within car manufacturing process life cycle
Resources considerations or implications plays a vital role in management of resources
used within an organization. It is highly important for car manufacturing organizations as
resource consumption within these organizations is extremely high and insufficient resources of
lack of resources can increase cost of manufacturing of product for them (Nilsson, Griggs and
Visbeck, 2016). For car manufacturing organization they need to analyse their resource
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requirement at initial stage of manufacturing process itself so that manufacturing cost of car can
be reduced, manufacturing of car can be completed in a timely manner and quality of final
manufactured cars can also be maintained. These considerations help an organization to lower
their resource requirements, prioritize their requirements, reduce energy consumption. This
automatically help them to reduce their waste generation. There are various kinds of resources
that are required throughout the manufacturing lifecycle process of a car such as steel, engine
etc. Car manufacturing process life cycle consist of five stages: First stage is raw material
extraction and collection of required secondary material. Second stage is allocating raw material
for manufacturing (Alayón, Säfsten and Johansson, 2017). Third is manufacturing process,
fourth is usage and maintenance of the manufactured product and last is end of life. Each stage of
process has separate resource considerations that are required to estimate by the organizations so
that on the basis of which resources can be assigned at each stage of manufacturing process
lifecycle. Resources considerations can include equipment’s, raw materials like steel, machines,
people, facilities etc. Resource considerations helps in adding another dimension to
manufacturing process lifecycle. It helps in improving resource usage so that process can be
completing using reduced resource and energy consumption.
There are various activities within car manufacturing process lifecycle that requires same
resources which can help in fulfilling all the requirements of manufacturing process (Verrier,
Rose and Caillaud, 2016). This will help in reducing resource consumption and energy
consumption i.e. if sufficient resources are not available then with the help of resource
consideration and planning resources can be reused. Reusage of resources not only help in
reduction of energy and resources but it also helps in reducing waste generation. This will also
help the organization in increasing reuse of resources at different stages of life cycle. People
involved in car manufacturing process, machinery and other facilities are those resources that can
be reused or whose usage can be managed so that usage of these resources can be reduced. There
are various tools and techniques that can be used for resource considerations in whole car
manufacturing process life cycle. First is to analyse all the resources that can be reused such as
people, machinery etc. Second is to prioritize all the resources that are required to be used and at
which stage. This will also help in identifying stages in manufacturing life cycle where resource
consumption can be reduced (Priefer, Jorissen and Brautigam, 2016). Organizations can use
project management software also this will help them to manage their permanent resources such
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as people and their working hours accordingly such that required process can be completed with
reduced energy consumption. Usage of project management software will also help car
manufactures to manage all the main activities of manufacturing process such as automated
engine manufacturing, paining activity etc. All the complex activities involved in manufacturing
process can be broken down into sub activities so that resources required in each activity can be
understood easily and on the basis of this break down estimation of resources required for
manufacturing can be understood. This will help the organization to understand important
resources required, energy or resources that can be reused or whose usage can be reduced. It is
one of the best cost-effective technique that can help in allocating resources required in
manufacturing process lifecycle. It not only helps in reducing overall manufacturing cost,
resource consumption but is also helps in reducing overall waste generation.
Issues related to resource use and waste reduction in car manufacturing process
Resource usage and waste management is an important activity in manufacturing process
as 60 percent of manufacturing process depends upon effective use of resource and disposal of
waste generated in car manufacturing process (Islam, Rahman and Kazi, 2017). If resources and
energy consumption is not managed in manufacturing process then various kind of issues can be
generated which can result is insufficient resources, increased manufacturing cost, increased
overall cost of the product or process, excess generation of waste, increased energy consumption
and many more. Due to these issues overall cost of final manufacturing process can increasing or
overall quality of the car can be impacted. Because of this it becomes important to reduce
resource consumption and waste reduction because resource consumption and waste generation
are directly proportional to each other i.e. if resource or energy consumption increases then waste
generation automatically increases. Increased waste generation is not only an environmental
problem but it is also an economical problem because if waste generation increases then cost of
recycling waste generated also increases or disposable of waste production also increases
because of which importance of resource management increases (De los Rios and Charnley,
2017). There are various kinds of other issues that are associated with resource usage and waste
reduction in car manufacturing process. First and the foremost issue which is faced by
organizations due to resource use in manufacturing process is environmental consequences
across entire supply chain. Extraction and collection of resources used for manufacturing are
extensively exhausting process. Even this process requires resources because of various kinds of
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issues can be created such as excess consumption of water or increased carbon footprint. it is
important for organizations to manage their raw material consumption because it can create
further issues like exhaustive usage of internal resources such as employees (Merli, Preziosi and
Acampora, 2018). Exhaustive usage of human resource can impact upon their productivity which
will indirectly impact manufacturing process.
Increase usage of internal resources can increase overall production or manufacturing cost
which can further disturb overall budget of manufacturing and delay overall process of
manufacturing. Due to this excess resource consumption wastage disposal issues can increase
because there are many resources whose usage is required to be reduced because it can increase
toxic wastage emission which is not only harmful for the organization but it is also harmful for
the environment (Alayón, Säfsten and Johansson, 2017). There are various kinds of other issues
that can be faced by organizations and can disturb manufacturing process. There are many
resources used within manufacturing process that requires licences or are required to be imported
from other countries and increased usage of these resources can put the organization into legal
issues. If resources used in manufacturing process are not managed or kept a track on then it can
become one of the major reasons of increased management coast and economic loss.
Interventions that can help in natural resources reduction, energy level reduction and level of
waste generated in car manufacturing process
As it has already been discussed how important natural resources, energy consumption and
waste generation are to be managed in manufacturing industry. There are various interventions
that will help in reducing use of natural resources, energy and waste generation level (Kefeni,
Msagati and Mamba, 2017). Using these intervention car manufacturing organizations will not
only enhance their resource or energy usage but it also helps them in managing waste generation.
Sone of the interventions that will improve manufacturing process are:
Forecasting or extent till which waste reduction is feasible: in order to reduce waste
generation, it is important for the organization to forecast or understand till what extent waste
and will be reduced or what kind of waste generation will be eliminated or reduced. This
forecasting will help the organization to understand what are the main activities of
manufacturing process in which waste generation is maximum (Lake, Rezaie and Beyerlein,
2017). With the help of this forecast organization will be able to understand resources required in
that particular activity, what are the necessary resources that are required to be used and what are
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unnecessary resources that are not required within that particular activity so that required
changes will be brought within the activity and waste generation from the activity will be
reduced.
Reduce, recycle and reuse: It is one of the best ways through which both waste reduction
and resource usage will be reduced. For this organizations should focus on segregating all kind
of waste generated. In car manufacturing process maximum machine lubricants and coolants;
aqueous and solvent cleaning systems; paint; and scrap metals and plastics waste is generated
which is required to be reduced. 3R will help the organizations to separate waste that will be
recycled, that will be reused or waste which is required to be reduced. There are few recycling
standards on the basis of which reduce, recycle and reuse of waste products are done.
Understanding these standards will help in reduction of manufacturing process. Organization will
focus on using these recycled and reusable waste products within the manufacturing which will
directly help the company to reduce usage of natural resources within the manufacturing process.
Like scrap metals and plastics products can be recycled and reused for manufacuring.
Conserving energy: there are various kind of non-renewable natural resources that are
used in manufacturing process such as oil, natural gas and many more. Due to this energy
consumption and usage of natural resources increases (Winans, Kendall and Deng, 2017).
Energy conservation will not only help the organization to reduce energy level usage but will
also help them to reduce natural resources usage. For this company will focus on using solar
power what are readily available wherever possible for example in manufacturing instead solar
power can be used for electricity generation so that energy consumption and natural resources
use will be reduced. Other than this company will also focus on replacing old appliances or
machinery with new one that consume less energy, more efficient and uses available resources in
a much better manner.
Improve resource utilization and management: there are various kinds of finite resources
that are used in manufacturing process. Organization should focus on reducing this excessive
usage of finite resources and wherever possible they should cut down their resource
consumptions like it is possible to use recycled products then it should be used to reduce this
excessive usage.
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Recommendations for waste reduction and improved resource use
Here, are few recommendations that can help in bringing improvement within car
manufacturing process so that resource usage process can be improve as well as waste reduction
process can also be reduced simultaneously:
Organizations can focus on reducing or controlling excess packaging and 30 percent of the
waste is produced because of excessive packaging or covering done for example seat cover
packing, tool covers etc. (Evans, Welch and Swaffield, 2017). Company should focus on areas
where excess packaging is not required or can focus on recycling products that can be again used
in other activities of manufacturing process so that waste generation can be reduced.
Organization should also bring improvement within their manufacturing process life cycle
so that waste products can simultaneously reduce. After each stage of life-cycle waste reduction
process should be followed where waste products can be recycled on the basis of 3R's (reduce,
reuse and recycle). After every stage an analysis can, be on i.e. which product can be directly
reused, which product can be used after recycling so that at next stage of manufacturing life-
cycle (Gabor, Colombo and King, 2016). This process can also help in reducing usage of natural
resources. Not only this at the end of the life-cycle again an analysis can be done where all the
waste products that can re-manufactured or reused at any stage of life-cycle then it can be done.
This also helps in increasing process efficiency but also increases the value of the manufacturing
process. This can be done by updating resource selection process at every stage of manufacturing
process lifecycle can help in enhancing resource productivity. Bringing updating in
manufacturing process can help an organization to change waste product into productive
resources that can be used in overall manufacturing process or at each and every stage of
manufacturing process lifecycle. In fact car manufacturers can focus upon opening their own
recycling factory where any can dump their old cars, steel materials etc so that it can be recycled,
processed and again used for manufacturing.
By reducing rejection and cutting parameters, organization can improve their manufacturing
process. This reduced paraments can help the organization to lower their waste reduction and
resources usage as well (Merli, Preziosi and Acampora, 2018). These reduced paraments can also
help the organization to reduce usage of internal resources and energy consumption as well such
as: employees involved in manufacturing process. Many times, organizations follow a tough
selection and rejection criteria for raw material selection and because of which excess amount of
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natural resources are used. Not only this this rejection and cutting criteria consumes maximum
amount of energy or it can also be said that maximum amount of energy is wasted only in raw
material selection or rejection. So, rejection of rejection criteria can help in reducing resources
uses, reducing waste generated and reduced energy level.
Following these recommendations can help the organization to not only improve their
resource productivity, reduce energy consumption and reduce waste generation level but will
also help in reducing overall manufacturing or production cost of car or it can be said that these
recommendations can help the organization to complete their manufacturing process
economically using least amount of resources and generating least amount of waste.
CONCLUSION
This report is concluding different change process that can be used in the car
manufacturing organization to improve their waste management process in order to improve the
sustainability of the organization. There are main three process has been studied in the report
which are reduction energy consumption, reduction of waste and resource reduction that can help
the organization to improve its overall presses. To complete these goals a brief over view of
resources in production cycle has been provided in the report. Range of intervention has been
identified in the process that will reduce the consumption of natural resources in the company
operation. Various recommendation has been suggested in the report that can help the
organization to make effective change in company resource management. These
recommendations can help the organizations to reduce their energy and resource consumption
with reduce waste generation.
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REFERENCES
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economy: The changing role of design. Journal of Cleaner Production. 160. pp.109-122.
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