Positive Impact Production unites economic efficiency and sustainability



Fraunhofer Austria presents the concept of "Positive Impact Production": production which should not only do no harm, but also have a positive effect on the environment and people
40-50% of Austria's greenhouse gas emissions are caused by industry. Large positive effects could hence be achieved if the transformation to a green and sustainable production method were to succeed. However, the change must take place in an economically viable manner, as it is essential to safeguard Austria as a business location. Industry is not only the employer of 17% of all employees in Austria, but is also indispensable for a successful economy, accounting for 30% of value creation. In order to combine economic efficiency and sustainability, an analytical approach, versatile expertise and the consideration of a variety of aspects are required. Applied research has produced a number of ideas and approaches as to what the factory of the future could look like. A team from Fraunhofer Austria has now collected various approaches in a position paper, outlined the status of current research on the respective topics and developed the ideas into a comprehensive vision: "Positive Impact Production", which should not only do no harm, but also have a positive effect on the environment and people.
Doing no harm is not enough
In the context of sustainability, "zero impact production" is a frequently used term. It describes a production system that has no negative impact on its environment. With the vision of "Positive Impact Production", the researchers, who have defined the topic as one of their strategic topics, want to go one step further. Dr. Thomas Sobottka, who is developing the research area "Digital Factory" at Fraunhofer Austria, explains: "Zero impact is a negative view, because it only refers to possible damage. Instead, we ask ourselves in our analyses: How can production make an overall positive contribution for people, society and the economy? This also highlights the opportunities of the transformation."
In their position paper, the researchers have brought together all the concepts that in their opinion offer opportunities for sustainable production. These range from the redesign of factory buildings and facilities to CO2 minimization through synergies between production planning and control and to the design of sustainable working environments. Various research groups at Fraunhofer Austria have been working on some of the specific topics for many years, have been able to develop ideas into tangible applications in research projects and have observed how these have been successfully implemented in ongoing operations. For example, one team already has extensive experience in coordinating industrial energy consumption with the variable availability of cheap renewable energy. However, completely different aspects such as ergonomics in the workplace in view of the ageing workforce should also be taken into account.
"We are not limiting ourselves to the ecological aspect but are looking at several dimensions of sustainability. In all of these aspects, we outline the state of the art in order to know what can already be implemented and what still needs to be developed further. As a partner to industry, we want to make a contribution to strengthening Austria as a business location with our research and by developing our vision," explains Prof. Sebastian Schlund, University Professor at TU Wien and Managing Director of Fraunhofer Austria.
The idea brings together a community
The position paper is now intended to bring together interested companies and other research partners. Prof. Fazel Ansari (TU Vienna), who is Head of Strategic Projects at the Center for Sustainable Production and Logistics at Fraunhofer Austria, explains: "We have set out our idea in this publication and developed hypotheses on how we could make the vision a reality. We want to bring together all interested parties under the umbrella of Positive Impact Production so that the transformation can gain momentum."