By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Mon, 2009-09-07 05:30
David Dornfeld argues for a holistic strategy in manufacturing businesses
According to the most widely accepted definition of sustainability, a sustainable business has objectives on three different fronts: the environment, the economy, and social capital. These are often seen as conflicting goals, an idea that results in a search for compromises and tradeoffs. David Dornfeld, Department Head of the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Sustainability at the University of California (Berkeley), opposes this point of view. He states that 'a business must be analyzed holistically, that is, let’s not fiddle with just little parts'. In such a holistic approach, the economy, the environment, and social capital become integrated. Much of the foundation for Dornfeld’s ideas can be found in the Total Quality concepts of W. Edwards Deming.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Thu, 2009-01-15 06:30
A toolkit by the US Environment Protection Agency
The US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has published 'The Lean and Energy Toolkit' elaborating on the relationship between the Lean philosophy and energy efficiency and discussing Lean manufacturing tools for assessing and reducing energy use. The Lean manufacturing concept was derived from the Toyota Production System (TPS) in the nineties. It is a management philosophy with a bottom-up approach that is dedicated to eliminating all types of 'waste', including unnecessary actions.
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