admin Technological advancements, fast urbanization, growth in the housing sector, upsurge in per capita income, improved living standards are the turnkeys driving the global household appliances market. The solicitation among home appliance manufacturers becoming intense as the market is fueled by advances in technology and evolving customer preferences. Some of the product innovations introduced by leading home appliance companies such as improved features, design, and performance are expected to augment the growth of the global household appliance market over the next few years. In addition, proclivity of consumers toward eco-friendly & energy-efficient appliances further boost market growth. Moreover, factors, such as government initiatives for energy-efficient appliances across the world are expected to facilitate the adoption of energy efficient appliances in recent years.
Energy saving, intelligent appliances becoming the major trends in kitchen goods and this rise of eco-friendly technologies is closely linked to the resource-conscious mindset. In achieving sustainable growth objectives, eco-friendly technologies and energy efficiency will be key as they apply cutting edge knowledge and non-technological innovations to improve existing products, processes and business models. In doing so, eco-friendly technologies deliver the opportunity to create regional competitive advantages in advanced manufacturing.
One of the drivers of this trend is the emerging raft of environmental regulations, as there is a clear push from regulators for industry to implement more sustainable and energy efficient technologies. This push is coupled with a market pull, which is encouraging industries to reduce their ecological footprint by focusing on eco-friendly products and related services.
Manufacturing Industry Trends with Green
Going green is a growing trend that’s proven to benefit more than just the environment. The greener an industry is, the faster its employment growth becomes. States that have a greater “green intensity,” or share of employment in green jobs, typically fared better in the recent economic downturn. Manufacturing has the lead when it comes to green jobs. With numerous ways for companies to make their manufacturing more eco-friendly, the opportunities for jobs in this area are diverse.
Facilitating Eco-friendly Environment
One of the most straightforward ways a company can go green is to adopt environmentally friendly practices in its facilities. An energy audit will highlight areas where the building is wasting energy and harming the environment. With this information in hand, manufacturers can turn to energy-efficient lighting products and automated lighting that turns on only when employees are present. A whopping 70 percent of the energy consumed in industrial applications is used by electric motors. Upgrading to greener models can make a big dent in this.
Inspecting manufacturing buildings and sealing them properly against air leaks can reduce the use of heating and cooling. Adjusting the thermostat when possible to make it a few degrees warmer in the summer and cooler in the winter can have a big impact as well. These green measures are possible for nearly any type of manufacturing industry, regardless of the product made.
Attenuating Waste
It is inevitable that most manufacturing facilities will use raw materials in the production of new items. However, facilities that are interested in going green can do so by implementing methods to carefully analyze the production process and examine waste. Implementing new procedures and better automation to reduce waste will instantly make any manufacturing company a little greener. Automated data collection is the key to success in this area. Understanding where waste occurs is the first step in making sure resources are used as efficiently as possible.
Companies have become experts at reducing waste and reusing materials. At some concrete plants, closed-loop weir structures reuse reclaimed water for concrete operations. Concrete can also be crushed and turned into reclaimed waste, using it as an eco-friendly aggregate base coarse material. Used motor oil is recycled for fuel in heaters. Customers are even encouraged to bring in broken asphalt for recycling and reuse at some facilities.
Adopting Eco-friendly Materials
Using environmentally friendly materials in the manufacturing process is an excellent way for a company to become greener. However, this approach is distinctly different for every product, with some areas of manufacturing having more green options than others. Companies can source raw materials in an environmentally friendly fashion by getting them from waste streams, post-consumer waste, construction waste, or renewable agriculture sources. Yet there are several barriers inhibiting companies from taking advantage of the potential of these technologies in advanced manufacturing; To overcome these, increase and simplified access to finance is required and needs firms with personnel with multifaceted skill-sets that are applicable to eco-friendly technologies, and educate the marketplace the merits of these new technologies. Additionally, it is suggested that public awareness campaigns can be used to encourage the uptake of eco-friendly solutions and reduce public scepticism towards the costs and benefits of the technologies. And finally, it is recommended that eco-friendly technologies be given a platform from which they can demonstrate proof-of-concept. Such platforms include large-scale demonstrators and small-scale testing units, which should provide eco-friendly technologies with the necessary exposure to showcase their reliability, sustainability and viability.
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