Tire Technology International - March 2024 Issue
Roadmaps to industry sustainability
2024-04-06 09:36:35
EFFICIENCY AND COST SAVINGS
In the face of accelerating climate change, stringent government regulations and growing consumer demand for sustainable products, tire manufacturers are at a crossroads
The tire industry faces the urgent task of redefining its operations to align with the principles of sustainability. This is an enormous challenge but also a unique opportunity to make a significant contribution to environmental protection while improving operational efficiency and reducing costs.
The quest for sustainability in tire production raises a complex web of issues that reflect the multifaceted challenges companies face in making this transition. But the most fundamental question for tire manufacturers is an introspective one: Where does my company stand today in terms of sustainability and decarbonization? Assessing the current state of a company’s sustainability practices and carbon footprint is essential for setting realistic goals, tracking progress and making the necessary adjustments to align with global climate targets and stakeholder expectations. This assessment forms the basis of a customized strategic roadmap to a more sustainable and resilient future. There are three key pillars of sustainability in the tire industry.
Energy management
Effective energy management is the cornerstone of achieving sustainability and operational efficiency in tire manufacturing. Siemens offers a range of solutions that enable manufacturers to significantly reduce energy consumption while maintaining production efficiency. At the heart of these solutions is Simatic Energy Manager. This ISO 50001-certified solution enables enterprise-wide energy management and provides the transparency needed to improve efficiency throughout the plant. Seamless integration of metering devices is essential for comprehensive on-site data collection and full transparency.
The Simatic S7 Energy Efficiency Monitor plays a key role in standardized machine efficiency assessment. By offering a clear view of energy consumption at the machine level, it enables manufacturers to find inefficiencies and optimize performance. It integrates energy data collection, enabling intelligent energy monitoring from data collection to proactive load management to prevent peaks, a critical part of effective load management. Overall, Siemens’ energy management solutions provide tire manufacturers with a clear path to reduce energy consumption, improve operational efficiency and achieve sustainability goals without making big process changes. The focus stays on delivering substantial, measurable benefits through intelligent energy use and management.
CO2 transparency
The carbon footprint has taken center stage as a critical indicator of a company’s commitment to sustainability. For tire manufacturers, understanding, calculating and reporting CO2 emissions means categorizing emissions into different scopes to comprehensively address both direct and indirect emissions.
To effectively track and manage carbon footprints within the production process and supply chain, companies need end-toend visibility. Reliable and verifiable data on materials, components and processes is essential to accurately quantify the CO2 emissions for each product. This is where Siemens comes in with its SaaS solution for CO2 management. By aggregating emissions data along the value chain, SiGreen enables the calculation of a ‘dynamic’ carbon footprint. This approach to carbon accounting makes it possible to map specific product figures and quantify improvements more accurately, making product carbon footprints an effective tool for managing product-related emissions. Transparent reporting facilitates compliance with regulations, strengthens corporate reputation, builds consumer trust and enables participation in carbon credit markets. Furthermore, it guides decision making toward investments in cleaner technologies and practices that contribute to decarbonization.
Resource efficiency
Enhancing resource efficiency and embracing circularity principles are essential for sustainable tire production. In this context, the role of digital twins is a significant leap forward for tire manufacturers. A digital twin – a virtual model built in advance of its corresponding physical entity – is used in two critical capacities: for the product (the tire itself) and for the production process (the tire manufacturing plant).
In the manufacturing process, the digital twin of the plant is a key enabler of efficiencies throughout the engineering chain. Production facilities can be streamlined on a global scale using worldwide manufacturing and flow simulations. Within this virtual representation, each process step, as well as finished and semi-finished products, can be examined for interaction with plant elements. Different hypotheses can be explored to understand their impact on tooling, agility, throughput, waste, quality and cost without the risk and expense of real-world trial and error. Plant engineers can use the digital twin to optimize system design and layout, resulting in more efficient use of space and resources.
The digital twin of the product, on the other hand, is instrumental in reducing the need for physical prototypes, testing, lab trials and industrialization loops. This reduces costs and time-to-market and significantly shrinks the environmental footprint of the development phase. By simulating and analyzing the product in a virtual environment, manufacturers can perfect the design for both performance and resource efficiency before any material is actually used.
By integrating the digital twin concept into product development and plant operations, tire manufacturers can achieve higher levels of resource efficiency and move closer to circularity. This aligns with environmental goals and brings economic benefits through improved material use and waste reduction. Circular economy strategies, such as the development of tires from sustainable materials, the adoption of retreading practices and the implementation of tire recycling programs, contribute to resource conservation and waste reduction. These practices not only mitigate environmental impact but also offer economic benefits by lowering raw material costs, generating new revenue streams from recycled products and meeting the growing consumer demand for sustainable goods.
A tailored journey
Embarking on an end-to-end decarbonization journey is a major undertaking for tire manufacturers, and requires a strategic and well-informed approach. It is a complex journey in which knowing where to start and what levers will have the greatest impact can often seem overwhelming.
Decarbonization requires the collaborative efforts of multidisciplinary experts to identify and implement the most effective strategies. It’s not just about setting goals but developing a detailed decarbonization roadmap – for example, derived from digital twin modeling that sets clear expectations for results. It involves a critical analysis of current versus target carbon footprints, an evaluation of business models through the lens of their carbon intensity, and a thorough assessment of the future energy mix across the value chain. In addition, the imperatives of sustainability reporting should be carefully considered given its potential implications, including management accountability.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to achieving sustainability in tire production. For tire manufacturers committed to a successful decarbonization journey, partnering with experienced consultants will ensure that the journey is taken with confidence and steered toward a sustainable, profitable future. By offering tailored products, solutions and advice, Siemens can help find the most effective strategies for energy management, CO2 transparency and resource efficiency, ensuring that manufacturers not only meet their sustainability goals but also enhance their competitive edge in an increasingly eco-conscious market.
Siemens
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