What is green engineering?
Today’s manufacturers make decisions that can have a significant impact on the future of the environment and the people within it. There are solutions that enable ‘eco-friendly’ product development processes which lessen an organization’s carbon footprint.
Green Engineering is the practice of leveraging PLM data not only to help calculate the C02 footprint of a product but also to evaluate design and supply chain decisions with sustainability in mind.
Why is sustainability important in engineering?
A great sustainability strategy requires real actions. When designing a product, engineers must take into consideration the environmental impact of the processes and materials used.
In addition to the social and environmental good they generate, green strategies can also have tremendous business benefits including:
- Reduction of raw materials and energy consumption
- Increased top- and bottom-line through recycling and reuse programs
- Ability to compete in markets with increasingly comprehensive and strict environment, health, and safety regulations
- Improved brand reputation and goodwill
- Improved company culture and employee engagement
Watch our video to learn how PTC’s portfolio of digital thread solutions help industrial companies drive their sustainability initiatives.
PLM capabilities to support green engineering
Concurrent engineering
Design and develop products sustainably by connecting globally distributed design and engineering teams for a seamless workflow. By working more efficiently while tracking and tracing all design data, this information can be used when a product must be recycled.
Model-based systems engineering (MBSE)
MBSE applies modeling, tools, and methods to improve your systems engineering programs and projects. Product simulations can highlight potential failures before a physical product is built, avoiding scrap and waste. Manufacturing simulations can also help reduce energy and material usage during product generation. MBSE provides support by optimizing the use of resources to be more sustainable while complying with industry standards.
Supplier and component management
Enable supplier collaboration with vendors and partners that align with your green engineering goals. Sometimes, buyers and engineers struggle to understand supply chain dependencies, offerings, and overall supplier sustainability vision. By leveraging out-of-the-box processes for global supplier management, your organization can partner with suppliers that are also doing their part to help protect the environment.
Parts classification
Product complexity leads to thousands of parts. Often times many are duplicates because engineers can’t find what they need, when they need it. Parts classification helps engineers find and reuse parts, so material usage is optimized, duplicate parts are avoided, and waste is minimized. This approach helps reduce scrap, energy consumption, and drives costs down.
The Sustainability Imperative: PLM for Green Engineering
Sustainable manufacturing is creating new opportunities for businesses and the planet alike. Learn how utilizing PLM for green engineering creates a foundation for a successful sustainability program in this eBook from industry analyst CIMdata.
Customer successes
Learn how these companies have adopted a PLM-enabled digital thread to meet their sustainability initiatives.
Windchill for green engineering
Windchill, as a global PLM platform for collaboration, can enable green product lifecycle management, including the necessary governance, cybersecurity, and open architecture. By leveraging product data more broadly, Windchill can help manufacturers automate and standardize sustainable processes and provide insights in real-time.