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December 17, 2021 02:47 PM

Sustainable manufacturing makes good business sense, says Essentra

Going green has resulted in higher efficiency and productivity, a lower carbon footprint

Karen Laird
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    Moulded plastics

     

    Following the implementation in 2021 of a number of changes designed among other things to move Essentra Components closer towards its net zero emissions goal, the company has been pleasantly surprised to find just how quickly these have yielded very tangible benefits.

    As a UK-headquartered components manufacturer, Essentra Components produces a diverse ranges of products, from caps and plugs, wire and cable management products and flange protection to knobs, handles, grips, PCB and electronics hardware, and tools and precision instruments, all of which are used in a wide variety of applications and industries.

    The sustainability measures taken by the company consisted both of investments in new, electric injection moulding machinery and adjusting the composition of its LDPE range to include up to 40% post-consumer recycled plastics.

    The results, in terms of  improved efficiency and productivity, were felt almost immediately.

    Richard Sederman, Essentra Components’ Strategy and M&A Director said the results of the switch far outweigh the initial investment and expectations: “We were aware that making significant change would require equally significant investment, however, we weren’t aware just how quickly we’d see the benefits feed through into the business.”

    According to the company, the installation of new electric injection moulding machinery has been one of the biggest driving factors in the productivity uplift.

    Two of the new machines have, since their installation, been running with an Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) score of between 70% and 80%. The machines they recently replaced had an average OEE score of just 45% across the board at their peak.

    Moreover, a 50% increase has been seen in the run hours: one previous machine was experiencing figures of 2142 down hours and only 700 run hours; with the newer machines, these figures are effectively reversed, with upwards of 2447 hrs run hours and only 420 down (measured whilst running 24 hrs a day between January 1st and May 2nd 2021).

    Across nine metrics measured throughout the electric machines program, including efficiency, productivity, energy costs, production speed and material wastage, all nine benchmarks had improved since January 2021 when the installation of the new machinery began.

    And, while introducing post-industrial recyclate to its portfolio was mainly intended to help customers improve their sustainability score and reduce their carbon footprint without the need to completely overhaul their infrastructure, it has also proven to help Essentra Components reduce its scope 3 carbon emissions.

    “The overall ambition was twofold: firstly, we wanted to reduce our carbon footprint to such a level that the business can move closer to its net zero goal; and secondly we wanted to future-proof the business with new, more efficient machinery. In the long run we expected these changes to have a marked improvement on day-to-day running but weren’t expecting the results to be so good so soon,” Sederman said.

    The team was quick to adapt to new processes, he said. As part of the initial report, teams across the business were asked whether day-to-day operations had seen a positive improvement and whether they were easier to manage. The answer was ‘yes’; business functionality, productivity and efficiency had all also further improved.

    “Clearly, going green is not just good for the environment, but better for business,” said Sederman.

     

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