Session Descriptions & Presentations

June 24 and 25

further duplication and/or distribution of the conference presentations is prohibited without the consent of the author

June 24 Concurrent Sessions

Environmental Management Systems
Bill Stough, Sustainable Research Group

Top management of each company is responsible for providing strategy and direction for environmental compliance and performance. The commitment of officers to achieve a high level of sustainability communicates a performance and accountability message to all employees. This session will cover the key elements for creating a formal environmental management system including policy statements, system audits, designating and empowering internal champions, and other resources needed to maintain a successful management system.


Product/Service Design (PDF, 19 MB)
Brad Davis, Industrial Wood Working Co.

Industrial designers are usually the first to conceptualize how, and of what materials, new products will be manufactured. Therefore, they have the earliest influence on the sustainability of the product during its life cycle. This session will review the systems and processes design teams use to ensure every product is manufactured with sustainable processes and produced with sustainable materials.


Facilities
Lorissa MacAllister, Progressive AE

The environmental elements that affect a facility's operation involve energy consumption, construction materials, and the habitat of the site. This session will cover the tools and processes plant and facilities managers can use to reduce operational costs and improve sustainability in the construction and function of manufacturing and office environments.


Purchasing/Supply Chain (PDF, 2 MB)
Art Hoekstra, Steelcase Inc. with Steve Beurkens, H&L Advantage, and Pat Young, Byrne Electrical Specialists

Supply chain managers influence sustainability through the selection of suppliers to provide materials. This session will explore such issues as supplier development, material availability, recycled content, recyclability, toxicity, and more. Case studies showing how waste reduction leads to cost reduction in the supply chain will be reviewed.


Operations (PDF, 2 MB)
Mark Lindquist, Rapid-Line, Inc.

Production and operation managers are responsible for the actual manufacturing of the product and the resulting waste and/or emissions. This session will review such issues as redesigning processes to improve environmental performance, pollution prevention, recycling, and resource conservation.


Packaging (PDF, 16 MB)
Mike Craig, Butterball Farms

The packaging used to transport products and raw materials can have significant environmental impact. This session will address the issues packaging engineers should consider in designing packaging materials. Tools and processes for creating environmentally friendly packaging - including material reduction, material recyclability, post-consumer recycling, and coordination among product design, purchasing and packaging departments will be discussed.


Delivery and Installation
Tom McCall, Meijer

Delivery and/or installation bring products or services into contact with customers. Issues like transportation and assembly methods impact the level of sustainability. This session will explore the processes and tools companies can use to improve the sustainability of the delivery and installation process including delivery efficiencies, reducing repackaging, reducing internal handling of products, and improving the sustainability of products and materials used in installation.


Marketing and Sales (PDF, 7 MB)
Marcie Palmer, Nichols

Marketing and sales activities often provide the best opportunity for intimate communication between manufacturers and customers. This session will discuss the role marketers can play in sustainable manufacturing including tracking customer demand for sustainable products, gathering customer feedback, and effectively communicating the sustainable aspects of company performance and products.

June 25 Workshops

BIFMA Sustainability Assessment Standard Review
Bill Stough, Sustainable Research Group and Anne Saliers, The Right Place

Suppliers are facing increasing customer and regulatory demands for sustainable products. This session will help you meet and exceed those demands through an intensive review of the new BIFMA Sustainability Assessment Standard (BIFMA SAS).   Soon ready for ANSI ballot, the new BIFMA SAS will have a major impact on companies in the office furniture market. A common measurement tool to evaluate the environmental attributes of a furniture product line, the BIFMA SAS will encourage and guide manufacturers and suppliers toward a path of increasingly sustainable products, processes and companies. This workshop will explain why and how the standard was developed, review the scoring process and discuss the intent and the documentation sought for each pre-requisite and credit. You will receive a copy of the standard and a score sheet that can be used as a baseline assessment and planning tool.


Lean and Clean
Richard Fleming, CI Associates

This workshop will provide you with an understanding of how lean and environmental processes integrated together can provide tremendous benefits to your bottom line. It will explore how lean principles apply to environmental activities and how environmental principles apply to lean activities. Topics covered include:

• The types of environmental wastes embedded in the seven wastes of lean, savings lost and the seven questions to ask.
• How to expand the application of value stream mapping to environmental resource flows.
• Tools for incorporating environmental initiatives into 6S.
• How to apply continuous improvement to environmental activities.
• Examples of over $100,000 of bottom line impacts you can implement now.
• New metrics that could supercharge your lean and clean efforts.
• A simple five-step process for exposing, finding and eliminating lean and clean wastes.

Innovation Management for Sustainable Design (PDF, 4 MB)
Kathleen Hoyle, Metrics Reporting

Does your company have an Innovation Management process? Does it incorporate life cycle thinking? In this workshop you will take away techniques for creating an Innovation Management process, including generating and capturing ideas, screening them and selecting the ones that best align with your organization's strategic goals. You'll learn how to look at innovation from strategic planning through launch in the context of your business and in relation to your product portfolio and sustainability goals.