The last two articles I’ve written for the APICS magazine “Enterprise Insights” department (to be published in the January/February 2010 and March/April 2010 issues), deal with “green” and “sustainability”. In the second one, I wrote about designing a product with its end-of-life in mind – reuse, reprocessing, recycling, and responsible disposal. Coincidentally, the following item appeared in the SME Daily Executive Briefing on December 29, 2009:
Considering "End Of Life" Issues For Electronics Could Benefit Manufacturers.
The Chicago Tribune (12/28, Hopkins) reported on "Harrison Kim, an assistant professor in the University of Illinois Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering at Urbana-Champaign." Kim studied the lifecycles of electronic gadgets and the associated costs, "and found that the time to think about...'end of life' issues is before the small electronics are even designed." Specifically, Kim "analyzed how design differences affect product recovery and determined that manufacturers are losing money by not reusing components." Fewer than 5 percent of retired phones "are recycled or reused." Kim said, "These are profits currently neglected." One way manufacturers could benefit, he said, is by designing products that were modular. Such products would also "appeal to the environmentally-savvy consumer."
There are regulations in Europe – RoHS and WEEE – that govern the electronics industry with specific requirements for recycling and safe disposal. You can be sure that the same kind of regulation will be implemented in the U.S. in the foreseeable future and similar regulation will apply to other industries as well as electronics. Why not get ahead of the game and start thinking about end-of-life in products you are designing today? Chances are good that this effort will pay off in future compliance as well as enhancing your image with an increasingly “green” oriented customer base. Read more articles by Dave Turbide at www.daveturbide.com or click here
Considering "End Of Life" Issues For Electronics Could Benefit Manufacturers.
The Chicago Tribune (12/28, Hopkins) reported on "Harrison Kim, an assistant professor in the University of Illinois Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering at Urbana-Champaign." Kim studied the lifecycles of electronic gadgets and the associated costs, "and found that the time to think about...'end of life' issues is before the small electronics are even designed." Specifically, Kim "analyzed how design differences affect product recovery and determined that manufacturers are losing money by not reusing components." Fewer than 5 percent of retired phones "are recycled or reused." Kim said, "These are profits currently neglected." One way manufacturers could benefit, he said, is by designing products that were modular. Such products would also "appeal to the environmentally-savvy consumer."
There are regulations in Europe – RoHS and WEEE – that govern the electronics industry with specific requirements for recycling and safe disposal. You can be sure that the same kind of regulation will be implemented in the U.S. in the foreseeable future and similar regulation will apply to other industries as well as electronics. Why not get ahead of the game and start thinking about end-of-life in products you are designing today? Chances are good that this effort will pay off in future compliance as well as enhancing your image with an increasingly “green” oriented customer base. Read more articles by Dave Turbide at www.daveturbide.com or click here
Beyond regulations, the value of waste reduction is clear--reduced cost through the Supply Chain.
ReplyDeleteSociety, though, is still challenged on hazardous chemicals and by products. We can't live with them--and can't seem to live without them in electronics!
And with more and more mobile devices deployed in the world, the need for recycle and reuse--vs. throwing this away--increases.
Good discuss, and we need more of it!
Ann Grackin, Chief Executive Officer
ChainLink Research
agrackin@clresearch.com