CARE FOR THE PLANET
sustainable design.
The European Union is developing guidelines to ensure that product designers take the impact of their product into account in the design phase. The intent is to make almost all physical goods on the EU market more environmentally friendly throughout their entire lifecycle. This includes the ability to repair the product, the reuse of components and/or materials or lowering energy consumption. At Demcon we think this is important; we want to participate in this. We also want to respond to market and customer needs that arise in this area. This means that we will also be introducing Environmentally Conscious Design (ECD).
2022 RESULTS
adjusting our ways of working.
- 3 projects in which the sustainable design methodology has been applied
- Training and basic Sustainable Design tools available
- ‘Sustainable Design Owner’ appointed
2023 OBJECTIVES
our aims for 2023.
The intent is to incorporate Sustainable Design into the Demcon way of working. To accomplish this we are going to integrate the ECD standards into our quality management system (QMS) on the basis of the ISO 14006. We intend to make Sustainable Design part of the existing Demcon development processes, so that engineers incorporate it into their way of working.
Our overall Sustainable Design targets for 2023 are as follows:
- Prepare advanced ECD tools and make them available
- Train our engineers (basic, medium, expert):
- 90% of engineers – basic and awareness (QTR 0 and QTR 1)
- 100% of ECD project members – medium
- 5 members of competence group – expert
- Sustainable Design competence group up & running
- Coordinate standardized methodology with partners of Circular Value Center
We intend to achieve these targets by initiating and implementing the following projects:
- Sustainable Assessments in 5 small projects (or 2 large projects). The goal is to further optimize our ECD design principles and tools.
- Optimize training materials and train employees.
- Set up and start up competence group.
- Actively participate in Circular Value Center in the Province of Noord Brabant.
OVERVIEW OF PROJECTS
integrating SD methodology.
SD methodology available
In 2022, an initial version of a sustainable design methodology was set up. We tested this methodology in three projects. The methodology was optimized on the basis of these tests and was then put into use. Naturally, we will be further optimizing and integrating this methodology.
Train our engineers
To involve all engineers in the new sustainable design methodology, training courses together with the associated training materials were developed. Draft versions of the methodology are now available at three levels: basic, medium and expert. Initial pilot training sessions have since been held.
Sustainable Design Owner
We have appointed one of our engineers as Sustainable Design Owner. This person is responsible for involving our engineering groups, integrating the sustainable design methodology into the engineers’ existing ways of working and making engineers aware of the importance of this.
Guest lectures
Demcon is associated with the Saxion Life Science, Engineering and Design (LED) Academy Mechanical Engineering education program. On behalf of the business community, we provide input for the associated teaching program. When the evaluation of this education program recommended that the sustainability topic should have a greater future-oriented focus, we followed up on that. Since 2022, we are presenting a guest lecture twice a year on ’Sustainable Product Development’. This guest lecture is about looking for a balance between the technical solution, the product’s lifecycle and dealing responsibly with raw materials. We hereby provide a frame of reference that makes it possible to make different choices in this area.
Circular Value Center
Demcon participates in the Circular Value Centre as part of a network of external chain partners in the Province of Noord-Brabant. As ambassador, Demcon actively contributes to the implementation of the Smart Industry action agenda. Naturally, we like to share our knowledge and experience in this area.