Sustainable production help: Rockwell Automation, Aberdeen offer assessment

Industrial organizations can get complimentary access to personalized recommendations for improving sustainability performance.

April 14, 2010

Sustainable manufacturing, like anything else, has to be measured to be improved. Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Co. (NYSE: HHS) offers an online sustainable manufacturing assessment tool for Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK). The tool uses data collected and analyzed from more than two hundred manufacturing organizations participating in Aberdeen’s primary research in sustainable production.

Aberdeen began its Assessment Tool Series in 2004. This is the first tool to specifically target business processes for manufacturers in managing sustainability across production operations.

"Increased regulatory, social responsibility and cost pressures are all creating a very challenging business climate for the manufacturing industry," said Marcia Walker, global manager of sustainable production for Rockwell Automation. "We are excited to make this interactive diagnostic tool available to manufacturers and hope they can benefit directly from seeing how their organizations stack up against top performers and what they can do to improve."

The assessment tool uses the Aberdeen PACE (Pressures, Actions, Capabilities & Enablers) research model to learn:

– How their organization compares to industry peers;

– Quickly identify key capabilities and technologies used by companies with top performance;

"We evaluate and classify manufacturers based on a variety of important performance indicators such as OEE, energy-use reductions, and corporate profitability," said Matthew Littlefield, a senior research analyst with the Aberdeen Group’s Global Manufacturing Practice. "By taking an enterprise-wide approach across manufacturing operations, corporate performance and energy intensity, this new assessment helps manufacturers understand the value of sustainability investments to the entire organization."

"We are also able to correlate performance in these metrics against the use of specific technology enablers and make specific recommendations to manufacturers for improved visibility and overall performance," adds Mehul Shah, research analyst with the Global Manufacturing Practice. "The report that is provided at the end of the assessment will allow manufacturers the ability to see where they fall in comparison to top-ranked companies, build a business case for new initiatives or investment, and map out an action plan to improve."

www.ManufacturingEnergyManagement.com

www.aberdeen.com

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– Edited by Mark T. Hoske, editor in chief, Control Engineering , www.controleng.com.