Hello world!
Sooo remember that Plastics Technology article that profiled Dordan as The sustainable thermoformer for the publication’s three-part series on packaging and sustainability? In it I ponder if sustainability makes sense as a business model for Dordan insofar as ROI is concerned. Read it here.
ANYWHOO, the Editor of Thermoforming Quarterly—a publication for and by the Thermoforming Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers—contacted me some time ago, asking if he could re-run the Plastics Technology story in his publication with some added commentary; he was interested in how “sustainability” as a business model manifests itself in small / medium sized manufacturers. “Despite the high profile success of sustainable business models at the enterprise level” he writes in an email, “it is not clear that the model is easily applied to small and medium-sized business in thermoforming or other manufacturing industries.” Wow, that certainly resonated with me.
Today I called him to make sure he had everything he needed for the article. What he was still interested in, he explained, was what Dordan was doing internally to become a more sustainable business. In the PT article I spent a lot of time talking about our customer centric sustainability initiatives—our tools and services that work to allow our clients to achieve more sustainable packaging solutions—but what he was interested in was what Dordan was doing to become a more sustainable thermoformer / manufacturer via optimized production processes.
I ran him through the list of internal sustainability initiatives I tackled at Dordan: Trying to establish an economically sustainable zero-waste-to-landfill program, which I found to be next to impossible due to the realities of economies of scale in post industrial markets and Dordan’s lack thereof (see posts about Chicago Waste to Profit Network); trying to conduct a streamlined LCA of Dordan’s thermoforming process to establish a baseline off which environmental progress can be gauged, yet lacking the resources to do so (conducting an LCA requires a substantial investment in LCA expertise and third-party auditing; see post titled “You Can’t Manage what You Can't Measure”); and, trying and failing to compost Dordan’s food and yard waste. Who knew microorganisms were sooooo sensitive, ha?!?
Perhaps I could investigate technologies to optimize the environmental performance of our actual machines, he suggested. Did he know of any, I questioned back? Dordan is constantly breaking down our machines and retro-fitting with the latest software and hardware to allow us to continue to offer quality and effective thermoformed containers; aside from leaning up operations, I was not aware of any revolution in the thermoforming industry that would allow us to manufacture plastic packaging any more efficiently…And then something peculiar happened, I had a question!
Dordan just received ISO 9001:2008 certification for our quality management system. Click here for the details. This certification provokes continuous process improvements, as per the requirements of the Standard. After interviewing Production and Quality about the new Standard Operating Procedures at Dordan, I learned how ISO 9001 provides the template for success, while each company must customize the process for themselves. There is no right answer with ISO 9001 certification and it is 100% intended to generate real, quantifiable improvements as manifest through recording and tracking key performance indicators. ANYWAY, I know there is an ISO certification for an Environmental Management System…would this provide me with the template I need to build out real process improvements in the context of manufacturing and sustainability at Dordan and have a respected vehicle of documentation to communicate said efforts accurately to stakeholders?
I hope to collaborate with the Editor of SPE / Thermoforming Division “Thermoforming Quarterly” on an article about this new thought bubble; that is, utilizing the systems that already exist via ISO Standards or others to measure, and therefore manage, Dordan’s environmental performance. Stay tuned!