Two inspiring keynote speeches followed and provided real examples of how the factory of the future is being brought to life. One speaker from a large dairy cooperative reported on the multinational dairy cooperative’s progress towards digital, sustainable production sites. He explained how individual site-based initiatives had now developed into the introduction of standardised roadmaps for reducing energy, water and CO2 within every factory. Dashboards and sustainability labels are helping to accelerate action and promote the sharing of successful initiatives. Investment is prioritised on principles of reduce, reuse, recycle.
Kees van der Voort Maarschalk, Technology Officer at starch manufacturer Avebe followed with a keynote entitled Sustainability as a License to Operate.
Sustainability is central to Avebe’s strategy and, using the example of water reduction, he described some of the lessons learnt:
Two parallel break-out sessions enabled delegates to share practical experiences, ask questions and consider best practices. Both these sessions started with a case study describing a project under way within a global organisation and focused on challenges and solutions.
The second session described challenges around implementing highly innovative projects with reference to an electrification pilot within a food manufacturing plant. The group discussed the key internal challenges in their businesses and how they are overcoming them to develop and install new technology in situations where stakeholders are risk averse and concerned about business impacts (financial or otherwise). It was interesting to see that such challenges were widely recognised and to hear inspiring solutions about how these are being successfully addressed.
Get in touch to learn more about how Haskoning is helping the manufacturing industry achieve sustainable production within factories of the future, or to register your interest in attending future events.