Analysis: As a leader in their industry, regarding environmentally conscious manufacturers, Herman-Miller felt they could be even more proactive by following in the footsteps of a few of the most successful manufacturers in the world, such as Nike, by adopting the Cradle-to-Cradle (C2C) sustainable practice strategy. Herman-Miller’s Mirra Chair project, to manufacture the first highly engineered Cradle-to-Cradle (C2C) compliant product, has the potential to elevate their reputation as Green manufacture leaders, but the project would not come without it’s costs. The focus of the Mirra Chair project lies primarily in the decision to use PVC in the armrests of the chair or to replace the PVC with TPU, an environmentally friendlier …show more content…
Given that Herman-Miller was already on a tight schedule to release this new Mirra Chair design at the Neacon trade show in little less than a year, the process to find credible new suppliers could pose detrimental to their projected sales numbers shown in Exhibit 8 of the case. (Lee, Bony, 2009) The threat of delayed sales growth to find new suppliers to accommodate the C2C protocol would be an initial cost Herman-Miller would have to incur. At this time in 2002, the entire industry was seeing delayed sales growth do to a stagnant economy and the “pre-Internet-bubble” (Lee, Bony, 2009). However, because Herman-Miller still held on as one of the top furniture suppliers in the US during this time we believe this would be a valuable opportunity to set themselves apart from their competitors, who would be focused on retaining cost instead of innovation. The case elaborates on the idea of “Eco-effectiveness” and the concept that if implemented properly, manufacturers will save time, money, and decrease their environmental impact. The process itself involves making every process in one’s manufacturing system recyclable or to continuable on a closed-loop. This means the goal for Herman-Miller would be to use materials that can be reusable and non-hazardous to the environment. As mentioned before, the PVC
Overall, recycling plastic benefits the environment, the economy and the future of America. Although there are flaws to recycling plastic such as the sorting step overlooking additives and the washing step leaving some impurities, technological advances and more labor will be needed to fix those drawbacks in order to conserve the environment. Therefore, the U. S government should mandate recycling so that the recycling rate increase. Through this action, America will gain the benefits of recycling plastic. In addition, Americans should recycle specific types of plastic such as PET and HDPE as those two are the most commonly accepted by recycling programs. This will be strenuous upon Americans because they will have to do more work however,
We suggest that we start the analysis process to get some ideas on the cost of renovating the EPC plant to start producing Polypropylene. This would also increase polypropylene production and possibly alleviate the 45 day shut down that is required in the original proposal. Also, it alleviates potential for the EPC plant to lay off employees if a future abandonment of that project took place. EPC employees would be retained and retrained to produce polypropylene.
There are several obstacles for manufacturers attempting to employ changes in their processes for more sustainable practices. One problem that manufacturers will run into is the lack of direction. Knowing that change is needed is the easy part of reaching sustainability. Knowing what changes to make is a much more complicated challenge. The idea of sustainability is discussed often, yet broad scope ideas are traded without specific details and applications. Team B Consultants Inc. (TBCI), is the
Cisco acknowledged that there were initial barriers to the flow of information and the ease of supply operations between them and their business partners who produced products for Cisco’s consumers. They initiated a Supply Chain Management Initiative to improve their operations by automating the supply chain and improving information flow between Cisco and its partners.
The process is just as important as the materials used in the production. Alongside production technology innovations, brands such as Adidas and Nike have begun to use recycled materials in their shoes. The way to ‘do more with less’ will involve innovations in the types of materials used in products. Adidas has prototyped Primeknit shoes made from recovered ocean fishing nets while Nike is using recycled polyester, diverting plastic bottles from landfills. Furthermore Nike has begun to implement sustainability metrics into their material choice and product design. This helps to ensure that there is greater transparency to the trade-off’s that designers are making between functional performance and environmental impact. To ensure continuous superior product performance a business must drive product innovation as well as
Widely acclaimed saxophonist, Donny McCaslin, a graduated of the Berklee College of Music, started to show enormous compositional and improvisational capabilities very early, namely in 1998, when he released his debut album Exile and Discovery. Other aesthetically rigorous works such as The Way Through, Soar, and In Pursuit all became intimately connected to a miraculous phase in his career that turned this Californian promise into a highly respected voice within the new jazz scene. During that period, collaborations with modernistic luminaries like Ben Monder, Antonio Sanchez, David Binney, Orrin Evans, Scott Colley, and Billy Drummond, were fundamental to make his spectacular tenor sound fly high.
The infrastructure is not at present in place to permit efficient recycling of materials from old product to new. These materials include metal, polymers, refrigerant gas and glass. This situation is due largely to a culture of indifference from Governmental and regulatory agencies at present. The use of natural capital is unsustainable with the culture of supply of what the customer wants and not what they need, this is at present a cultural problem. This has a detrimental impact on the ecosystem.
S.C Johnson & Son Inc. has a business-level strategy that focusses on environmental protection. According to Green Choices SC Johnson 2013 Public Sustainability Report the company is focusing on minimization of landfill waste, reducing greenhouse gas emission and improving on product chemistry. The company also wants to continue on improving product packaging to ensure that they are attractive to consumers and that they are environmentally friendly. SC Johnson launched two wind turbines in its largest manufacturing facility, these together with the existing cogeneration units enables the facility to generate 100 percent of its power need onsite (SC Johnson, 2010). With generation of power through renewable sources the company experiences low power costs resulting in cost savings. The company launched a five year strategy which aims at ensuring less waste, creating winning products and reducing environmental footprints. SC Johnson is
My name is William Loman. I am a sixty year old salesman living on the outskirts of New York with my wife, Linda, and my two sons, Biff and Happy, at least when they come to stay. I’ve been in sales for as long as I can remember. It’s my life, my pride, and from it, I will certainly die the death of a salesman. Life used to be filled with hope and success. Now I’m boxed into an angular neighborhood with no room to breathe and competition up to my ears. In my best year of sales, in 1928, I averaged a hundred and seventy dollars a week in commissions. Now, I’ m lucky to be able to pay my insurance. I knew all along that I should’ve gone with my brother Ben to Alaska that time, and everything would’ve been totally different.
Robinson Jeffers is one of the twentieth centuries most important and controversial poets. He, like others in history, has tried to give his opinion about life. Many poets in the twentieth century focused on issues affecting mankind, Jeffers is no exception. Most of his work was inspired by his surroundings. One’s environment is great source for poetic inspiration. Poets come and go, but their ideas are kept alive through their poems. Whether they are a hundred or ten years old, these poems hold ideas in them which are still interesting now as they were back then. It seems that poets are always passionate about their work. They should be, since it expresses who they are and what they believe in
One material dominates the entire world, a material incapable of degrading for centuries and used in all facets of life. While very new to the earth, this synthetic polymer has flourished rapidly since the 1950’s, and, still at full throttle in the 21st century, the Age of Plastic sees no imminent end. Plastic continues to ascend at an exponential rate as its plethora of uses extends to new branches of technology and innovation. Even with their differences, both the working class American and the CEO of an industrialized company utilize plastic for its low cost and versatility. Nevertheless, humanity cannot sustain this nonrenewable resource for long, and eventually the issues of this material will one day outnumber the benefits.
Cisco not only failed to forecast a market downturn and also reportedly its problems were largely caused by inherent defects in the company systems. Below are some of the reasons why Cisco landed in financial trouble in early 2001. There were several factors that play a part for Cisco’s crisis in early 2001. But the main culprit was the misalignment of Cisco’s interest with this of its contract manufacturers which leaded to communication breakdown in the overall supply chain process. Stanley et al., (p.10, 2007) mentioned that “a supply chain is made up of a series of linked company-level value chains where communication up and down the supply chain can help build processes that enable the entire chain to make and deliver winning products and services”.
In addition, to measure the success of sustainable business practices, organizations must continuously monitor the progress and communicate results of their sustainable plan efforts. A review of the Riordan Manufacturing’s current business practices will help illustrate the development and implementation of a successful sustainability plan. According to University of Phoenix (2011), Riordan Manufacturing is a plastic injection molding company with locations in California, Georgia, Michigan, and China. An extensive audit of the current business practices of each of the four plants operated by Riordan Manufacturing reveals numerous unsustainable practices considered harmful to the environment. However, to make the greatest improvement, Riordan must concentrate on developing a plan to address the release of harmful emissions, improper disposal of off-spec raw materials, and the release of harmful solvent cleaners into the biosphere. The release of harmful emissions into the air creates air pollution that results in the deterioration of the ozone layer, which is so vital to the biosphere. Riordan must also address the improper management of off-spec raw materials and reduce the amount of waste sent to local landfills. Finally, Riordan must eliminate contamination of water systems as a result of cleaning its equipment with dangerous cleaners and mold release agents. The process of applying solvents to the
Today the human race celebrates the anniversary of what seemed to be our destruction, but what turned out to be a vital turning point in our history as a planet. Five short martian years ago we awoke on our then home planet, Earth, carrying on with our day to day lives. Suddenly our lives were turned upside down, and thanks to the efforts of one man and his team, we were able to survive and preserve the human race. Today we celebrate this man, Dr. Samuel Miller, and all that he has accomplished and done for our survival.
In terms of goods’ processing and using, they might lead to power and material intense with a number of direct and indirect effects on the natural environment such as overusing natural resources, or emitting pollution to air, water and soil. Hutchins and White (2009) argue that there is a huge amount of waste to be produced in the production process. Although much waste could be disposed and recycled at the end, it is not only hazardous to dispose, but also expensive to process. For example, Tickner et al(2001) argue that polyvinyl chloride(PVC), as a chemical substance, is widely used in the construction for pipe and profile application, which has been focused on by more and more people. It is a fact that PVC could release toxic materials into the soil and air when it comes across the high temperature due to the fact that PVC has a poor heat stability. As a consequence, the environment will be heavily contaminated by toxic waste and people might suffer a series of diseases like reproductive problems. The products made of materials like PVC are used by humans everyday, which still raises people’s debates. To deal with this problem, it is likely that the eco-design will be expected to solve it. Hoffman (1999) states that the cooperation between environmental authorities and social responsibility has been concerned in this century. He also gives a new concept to prevent pollution and minimise