Lessening Our Impact on the Environment
Annette Carroll 12.12.2019
In today’s business world, most of us are focused on making big impacts for our customers, our employees and our communities. It’s just an embedded part of our culture to think “more is better.” When it comes to sustainability however, transitioning to a “less is more” mentality is really what it takes.
There are times when the biggest impacts are born from re-engineered ways of thinking. By doing more with less we can lessen our impact on the environment and contribute to global enlightenment about how to engineer and manufacture in sustainable ways.
So, what does “lessening our impact” look like?
A Corporate Commitment
It begins with the company making a formalized commitment to pursuing sustainability. As part of Okuma’s official environmental policy, we work to protect the environment and assure quality of life by preventing pollution and making continuous improvements to our sustainability practices. This philosophy has come to life as a core belief system that permeates our entire organization.
EMPOWERED INDIVIDUALS
For policy to be effective, individuals within the organization must be empowered to pursue sustainable practices within their own areas of the company. An example of this is the installation of recycle bins around the campus at Okuma America.
Many companies have gone away from recycling because of the costs involved. But our leadership, plus a number of individuals who are passionate about recycling, advocated for implementing recycling practices here in Charlotte, NC.
Today we recycle anything from paper goods to cardboard, and even the metal chips from our CNC machining processes. Even though recycling comes with a cost, we still do this, because it’s part of who we are as people and ingrained in our collective belief system.
RESPONSIBLE FACILITIES
At Okuma’s state-of-the-art Dream Site facilities in Japan, the latest technologies for building machine tools are employed. At these facilities significant investments have also been made to utilize energy-saving practices.
Dream Site 1 has about 500 solar panels installed on its walls and 3,800 solar panels on its roof. These panels generate roughly 1,040 kW, which is equivalent to the energy consumed by 260 ordinary homes.
Dream Site 2 uses geothermal energy for high-efficiency heating and cooling in the plant. Energy efficiency is also promoted with the use of solar panels with high insulating properties on exterior walls, LED lighting, air compressor invertor controls, electric heat pumps and other equipment. This has so far resulted in reducing energy costs by 30 percent compared with previous levels.
Dream Site 2’s energy-efficient practices have resulted in reducing energy costs by 30 percent compared with previous levels.
RESPONSIBLE PRODUCTS
At Okuma, sustainability starts with the product itself. Our CNC machines are designed to perform over a long product lifespan, reducing the need for turnover of the machines in production environments. When they are disposed of, they’re reused as a source of metal.
Okuma machine tools are also equipped with eco-friendly capabilities that save on energy consumption. One of the leading examples of this is Okuma's Thermo-Friendly Concept, a technology that allows for processing precision to be maintained at a constant level without being affected by ambient temperature. This eliminates the need for temperature control in order to maintain precision, reducing both electrical consumption and, as a result, CO2 emissions.
Okuma’s ECO suite enhances Thermo-Friendly Concept while achieving true energy saving results. ECO suite is a next-generation system that saves energy by reducing the power consumption during both machine operating and dormant times. ECO suite includes four new intelligent control applications that save on unnecessary energy expenditures, and the results can be quite dramatic. Below is an example of a 63% reduction in power consumption achieved by using ECO Hydraulics, an optional feature in the ECO suite system.
MAKING PROGRESS TOWARD SUSTAINABILITY GOALS
Personally, I’m impressed by the level of environmental stewardship Okuma has been able to achieve to date. I’m not surprised however! Okuma has a strong track record for innovation and achievement, so our culture is well suited to make great progress toward sustainability goals. I’m excited to see what we can achieve going forward.
About Annette Carroll
Annette Carroll is Director of Marketing for Okuma America Corporation, a world-leading builder of CNC (Computer Numeric Control) machine tools, founded in 1898 in Nagoya, Japan. Okuma is the industry’s only single-source provider, with the CNC machine, drive, motors, encoders, and spindle all manufactured by Okuma. The company also designs its own CNC controls to integrate seamlessly with each machine tool’s functionality.
Company: Okuma America Corporation
Website: www.okuma.com
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