Engineering Magazine – June 2019

ENGINEERING JUNE 2019 19

SUSTAINABILITY

a growing focus on these issues.
As the excitement around Industry
4.0 settles, there’s a recognition that
data capture is, in its own right, not
enough. Instead we need meaningful
interpretation and value from this data.
Meanwhile, businesses grow ever
more concerned with the sustainability,
both of their own operations and
that of their supply chains, driven by
stringent regulation on everything from
energy efficiency to the reduction of
CO 2 emissions.
In future, we can expect the circular
economy to become the only type of
economy. Savvy businesses are pushing
now to close the gap and ensure data
and technology support not only greater

efficiency and productivity, but greater

long-term sustainability too: the ultimate

circular economy.

There are barriers to this, and they

are largely linked to business structure

and culture. Many manufacturers now

have dedicated technology teams,

committed to the capture and analysis

of ‘big data’. The sustainability team

tends to sit elsewhere, often side-

lined as non-business-critical. We are

seeing the beginnings of a cultural

shift as a new generation of graduates

move through these businesses, but

there is still some way to go. Until we

can fully break down these barriers

and ensure stronger channels of

communication between the two

departments, we are unlikely to see

wholesale change any time soon.

There’s also some realignment

to be done in the sector itself.

Investment in manufacturing has

traditionally been use-case driven – in

other words, ‘if I could measure X,

I could improve Y’. The focus on

Industry 4.0 has arguably driven a

pendulum swing on this approach

with a clamour to measure everything

based on the fervent belief that

the data captured will ultimately

deliver value. We’re likely to see this

approach mature in the coming years,

with a returning need for a strong

justification and business case to back

up investment in data capture.

The circular economy could be one

such driver. It is, after all, increasingly

clear that new data, technologies

and analytical tools can support

more sustainable production, the

measurement of progress against

sustainability targets and evidence-

based decision making. The challenge

now is to take the smart thinking and

investment on both Industry 4.0 and

the circular economy and unite the two.

The gap is beginning to close.

Simon Earnshaw is Air Products’ Director

of Production & Supply Chain in Europe

http://www.airproducts.co.uk