Authored by Gaurav Bawa, Senior Vice President, WIKA India
In the modern era of the industrial environment, sustainability is not just a popular concept but also a requisite for long-term success in the contemporary industrial setting. For manufacturing organizations to be sustainable, they need to reduce environmental impact and increase operational efficiency.
For example, Wika leading company in measuring technology was honoured with the prestigious Sustainability Excellence Award at the 8th Edition of the Exhibition Excellence Awards & Summit (EEA) 2024 for its sustainability initiatives.
Some of the recent sustainability projects executed by the manufacturing company when it comes to sustainability include pulp packaging, zero wastewater, LPG genset implementation, urban forest development, and solar energy adoption. All these practices help significantly to reduce carbon footprint and enhance energy sustainability. Replacing diesel generators with LPG gensets has been pivotal in achieving sustainable energy consumption. Additionally, a major initiative is to plant more and more trees on urban barren landmarks.
Sustainable production is based on increasing energy efficiency. To guarantee peak performance, businesses should invest in energy-efficient machinery and conduct routine maintenance. Transitioning to more modern technologies can drastically cut operating expenses and energy usage.
Furthermore, including renewable energy sources like wind and solar power can significantly reduce carbon emissions. Manufacturing facilities install solar panels to power their operations. For instance, solar installation can contribute over 54% to energy consumption, depending upon the solar capacity and usage.
Sustainability requires the implementation of comprehensive waste management solutions. Lean manufacturing concepts, which seek to eliminate waste in all forms, including time, materials, and resources, should be the primary emphasis of manufacturing organizations.
Initiatives for recycling ought to be incorporated into the manufacturing process. Businesses can cut expenses and their environmental impact by recycling garbage and repurposing products. The manufacturing industry should promote the use of cutting-edge monitoring technologies to monitor recycling and waste creation rates, giving businesses the ability to identify areas for improvement.
Businesses engaged in manufacturing need to make sure that their suppliers follow sustainable practices. This includes everything from ethical labor practices, minimizing environmental effects, and ethically procuring raw materials.
Implementing a sustainable supply chain strategy requires thorough analysis and ongoing monitoring. To assess suppliers’ performance in terms of sustainability and guarantee that environmental regulations are followed, the industry should focus on utilizing data-driven assessment techniques.
In many industrial operations, water is a vital resource. Businesses must employ water-saving technologies, recycle wastewater, install water-efficient fixtures, and take other conservation measures. Water usage must be measured and closely observed to find inefficiencies and potential improvement areas.
The industry should introduce several innovative practices, including advanced water management systems. These initiatives range from annually recharging of million liters of rainwater to the ground to achieving a significant reduction in water consumption.
Additionally, the industry must install sewage treatment plants to recycle water for use in gardens and plant areas.
By their commitment to the environment, many manufacturing industries have implemented a high-performance cooling system for laser systems, achieving an impressive 85% reduction in water usage. These efforts underscore a proactive approach to conserving water resources while fostering ecological health in urban areas.
For environmental reasons, sustainable manufacturing must consider the entire lifecycle of a product – from procurement to disposal. The goal of manufacturers should be to strive and create readily repairable items, that have long lifelines and can be recycled.
For example, Wika initiated switching to pulp packaging from traditional materials, which can significantly decrease plastic waste and raise packaging material recycling rates. Pulp is an environmentally friendly substitute. This project has clear financial and environmental benefits, as it can save thousands of euros a year and is in line with sustainability aims.
With Industry 4.0, a range of sensible technologies are now available to improve and offer sustainable production and manufacturing. When it comes to observing and improving business operations, the concepts of big data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) as well as IOT come into play. For example, these days measurement tools, include smart sensors aimed at gathering information on such items as resource utilization, emissions, and energy consumption among other aspects thereby demystifying the data after collecting it.
Prioritizing sustainability is about resilience and long-term growth, not just compliance, as manufacturing organizations negotiate an increasingly complicated and linked global economy. It is very crucial to embrace comprehensive and data-driven strategies for sustainability.
Industries may set the standard for a sustainable future by embracing energy efficiency, advancing the ideas of the circular economy, implementing sustainable supply chain procedures, investing in smart technologies, cultivating a sustainable culture, and establishing clear objectives. By working together, they can use creativity and teamwork to build a more affluent and environmentally friendly world for future generations.
Gaurav Bawa, Senior Vice President, WIKA India – Gaurav Bawa started off his career in business development and is a professional salesperson skilled in Quality Management with knowledge of Six Sigma Black Belt. With a demonstrated history of working in the Electrical & Electronic Manufacturing industry, Bawa has always been keen on precision engineering and quality. He was a top student in Mechanical engineering followed by MBA in operation and finance from IMT.
With career progression, while manufacturing and machines has been his expertise, in his journey from Eicher to GE to Schneider Electric and currently to WIKA Group, Bawa has also transitioned from operational roles to front-ending the businesses and leading the strategy and tactics in his current role of heading WIKA India.
Bawa started his career in the Manufacturing function at Eicher. After that, he transitioned into quality management as a Six Sigma Black Belt role at GE corporation, further leading the quality organization. In time, he moved to Sales and Marketing function for Resel Beloit corporation – a former GE business. Later, he joined Schneider as Marketing leader for energy business.
While precision manufacturing still remains the core of Bawa’s expertise, he is now responsible for leadership, growth, and business results for WIKA India, which is having four plants in India and a future strategy to expand. His aim is to see WIKA India playing the most prominent part in WIKA Global’s future strategies. For the last 7 years, he has consolidated the WIKA India business under his leadership, now comprising 4 plants at Pune, Chennai, Ghaziabad & Faridabad. At WIKA, Bawa is at the helm of the entire sales strategy, business development, growth and also for developing a strong leadership team.
Bawa is particular about the quality of every result that he delivers and takes pride in what WIKA India and its management team have been able to achieve for both India and WIKA Global. Adherence to quality in every sphere of his intervention not only makes his future goals precise but also increases the significance of WIKA’s expansion plans in India. In 2023, Gaurav Bawa was also awarded as the “Best Leader To Watch On For 2024” by CEO Magazine.
Bawa believes in the prediction of World Economic Forum that India will climb up the global positioning on GDP ladder by 2030. But what he envisages is that WIKA India will play a powerful role in the growth process by outpacing the industrial growth of the country.
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