Best Practice Archives

Energy Benchmarking of Manufacturing Processes in Foundation Industries

Energy Benchmarking of Manufacturing Processes in Foundation Industries

As industry increasingly looks at ways to reduce their environmental impacts, manufacturing processes have come under greater scrutiny. The manufacturing sector accounts for 38% of global energy consumption and 25% of global CO2 emissions, much of which comes from process energy and electricity consumption. To reduce these emissions, it is imperative to find ways to reduce the energy consumption in manufacturing either using more energy-efficient equipment and processes or by moving towards to renewable energy. In order to identify areas of inefficiency and which changes will have the greatest impact, benchmarking energy consumption, or determining the “best practices”, in manufacturing processes is a critical step. By comparing energy utilisation data to industry standards or to similar operations, manufacturers can get a greater understanding of their energy consumption and determine the areas to tackle first for the greatest effect. External benchmarking, against other companies within the same sector, and internal [...]

Joanna Johnson2024-01-19T14:28:03+00:00January 15th, 2024|

Saica site visit

Saica site visit

TransFIRe members paid a visit to Saica Paper this week to find out about their operations and to look for potential collaborative opportunities. Saica are a leading manufacturer of high-performance and 100% recycled papers for corrugated cardboard in Europe and the US. During the visit, Sanjoo Paddea gave a talk on the overall TransFIRe project, Natanael Bolson gave some insights on resource flows for the paper industry, Dr Lampros Litos MIET talked about waste valorisation and Simon Curling talked about his work on coatings for paper packaging with Wipak and re-pulping with Pulpex and others. As part of the presentations, TransFIRe highlighted that best practices in the paper industry could reduce the carbon footprint and energy emissions by up to 50% and we hope to be able to help identify ways in which Saica can move towards this.

Joanna Johnson2023-12-08T12:04:06+00:00December 8th, 2023|

Sustainability Metrics – upcoming challenges for FIs

Sustainability Metrics – upcoming challenges for FIs

Over the past year, TransFIRe have been working alongside North Lincolnshire Council, in order to create a ten-month action plan to tackle the subject of sustainability performance. The action plan promotes guided peer-to-peer learning by sharing knowledge and experiences across different types of foundation industries and their supply chains. The plan has consisted of three-phases: a) June 2023: An introductory webinar open to all industries from North Lincolnshire (Stage A) b) July 2023: A workshop with a small group of companies (Stage B) c) Oct 23 - Jan 24: Group work with four companies (Stage C) Currently, our TransFIRe researchers are working on stage C of the plan, “Peer to Peer Network of Practice”, which brings together a small number of companies to answer questions such as: why are you making and reporting sustainability measurements and how accurate is your data? It is expected that participating companies will learn [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-12-15T09:04:21+00:00December 7th, 2023|

EDI Case Study: Launching Member Networks at IOM3

EDI Case Study: Launching Member Networks at IOM3

Launched by its Chief Executive in response to member demand, in 2021 the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) introduced three new member networks, to bring together and support people who may be in an under-represented group in their profession. Company Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining Industry Membership organisation for Materials, Minerals and Mining Location London and Grantham, with members UK-wide and internationally Company Size 45 employees, 15,000 members Intervention Introduction of new community groups for members Specific challenges Making materials, minerals and mining topics accessible to everyone, against a background of declining uptake of qualifications in these areas and specific challenges for those in under-represented groups in their profession Outcomes Created a safe space for discussion, leading to new ideas and events being held. Next steps are to build up the groups, and adopt additional data collection to quantify the impacts. Photo Credit: IOM3. WIM3 [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-09-26T10:19:50+00:00September 26th, 2023|

EDI Case Study: Constellium UK Ltd

EDI Case Study: Constellium UK Ltd

Constellium is a global leader in the Aluminium industry, they design and manufacture advanced alloys and engineered solutions for a range of applications, such as beverage cans, cars, airplanes, and more. The UK entity is focused on research & development, manufacturing, and recycling of aluminium products and solutions. Their mission is ‘to create game-changing aluminium solutions for a circular and sustainable economy and a brilliant new day’. DIVERSITY & INCLUSION The company strives to foster an inclusive environment where people from a multitude of backgrounds, with a wide range of ideas and experiences, can contribute and succeed. Constellium global have a target that by 2025, 25% of all managerial and all professional roles to be held by women. The UK entity has a 32.5% female representation, but no women in leadership or technical roles, and it had a distinct lack of females in engineering roles in the workforce, hence [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-12-08T10:32:12+00:00September 5th, 2023|

Mapping resource consumption and emissions in the Foundation Industries

Mapping resource consumption and emissions in the Foundation Industries

Understanding the intricate flows of resource consumption and emissions within various industries is paramount in pursuing a sustainable future. As part of TransFIRe’s Work Stream 1 (WS1), we are working on a ground-breaking study that bridges a critical gap in our comprehension of foundation industries. Foundation industries include the cement, ceramics, chemicals, glass, metals, and paper sectors – the backbone of our society. The developed study introduces a methodological framework that addresses the gap in mapping resource flows and provides a replicable blueprint for interpreting the complexities of resource consumption and emissions. By adopting this approach, we gain profound insights into the collective performance of these industries and their sectors. Furthermore, the study benchmarks the current performance of the UK against global averages and best practices, acting as a compass for tracking progress towards ambitious net-zero targets. One of the key merits of this study lies in its ability [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-08-10T11:27:28+00:00August 10th, 2023|

Embedding TransFIRe within industry

Embedding TransFIRe within industry

Secondments are a brilliant way of offering professional benefits to both companies and employees, in our case researchers, alike. For industry, it can be an opportunity to bring someone new into their company, with a fresh set of eyes and skills, that has the potential to help develop a new area of business or solve a particular problem and to help build collaboration. For secondees, it’s an opportunity to immerse themselves in the fabric of a company, help bring their expertise to the table and broaden their skills and knowledge. In light of this, it has been really important and worthwhile for TransFIRe to have a number of secondment placements set up for our research staff for a range of Foundation Industry companies. These placements focus on short term projects or challenges that are of benefit to both the companies and to the TransFIRe researchers. For example, this month [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-08-09T14:35:49+00:00August 9th, 2023|

Inclusive Innovation in the Foundation Industries

Inclusive Innovation in the Foundation Industries

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure to meet Karen Souza, D&I Partner at Innovate UK KTN. I was excited to hear about their focus on Inclusive Innovation, and immediately asked her to join us for our next TransFIRe EDI Working Group Session. Our EDI Working Group brings together people who are advocating and leading change for EDI in their businesses and industries, from the TransFIRe research community and our industry partners. Our industry participants represent production, research and development, and HR roles, and I was excited to bring the Inclusive Innovation discussion into this forum. Karen Souza Roll forwards a few weeks, and our session did not disappoint. Karen explained how UKRI’s vision is to work with partners to shape a dynamic, diverse and inclusive system of research and innovation in the UK. While the UK has incredible diverse talent, it is recognised that there [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-07-25T08:08:06+00:00July 24th, 2023|

Key performance indicators in sustainability reporting: what do we need to measure?

Key performance indicators in sustainability reporting: what do we need to measure?

Sustainability reporting is a vital tool to provide information on an organisations’ social, economic, and environmental performance and is an essential way for organisations to demonstrate accountability to their various stakeholders. But how do companies know which metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs) they should use? The TransFIRe project through its different Work Streams (WS) is addressing the need of identifying the most suitable metrics for the foundation industries (FI), by looking at different levels for measuring and reporting performance, ranging from the process level to factory level and eventually to the “beyond the fence” level (a system view, looking from the perspective of external stakeholders, including the surrounding community, and the environment). Figure 1 - Schematic representation of the different levels for measuring performance of FIs. Process level metrics At a process level, TransFIRe researchers have created a framework to help the manufacturing industries identify the right [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-06-05T11:02:10+00:00May 16th, 2023|

EDI Case Study: Elevating Wellbeing and Mental Health Awareness at Hanson

EDI Case Study: Elevating Wellbeing and Mental Health Awareness at Hanson

In Brief Company Hanson Industry Cement and quarry products Location Nationwide Company Size 3,500 employees Intervention Introduction of a comprehensive Wellbeing and Mental Health programme Specific challenges Mental health became an increasing issue during the COVID-19 pandemic, but had previously been little discussed. Reaching all employees posed a challenge, as Hanson has many sites nationwide and many employees who do not have email access at work. Outcomes Over 220 Mental Health First Aiders, and a culture of support in place for all colleagues Photo credit: Hanson About Hanson Hanson UK is a British-based building materials company, headquartered in Maidenhead. The company has been a subsidiary of the German company Heidelberg Materials since August 2007. Hanson UK is a leading supplier of low carbon heavy building materials to the construction industry. Hanson’s principal markets are the major conurbations in England and Wales and the central belt of Scotland. [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-05-16T08:44:59+00:00May 2nd, 2023|