Sustainability has become increasingly important in recent times across many areas of industry. As an example, manufacturers in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries are devoting more time, effort and resources to the topic. As a result, manufacturers have shifted their focus across their entire supply chain to accomplish their mutual sustainability goals.
“Many of the sustainability issues we face cannot be solved within a single industry”.
In the article ‘Sustainability Efforts Link Supply Chain’, author Seán Ottewell claims ‘Connecting players along the supply chain is one of the key chemical industry initiatives’, taking Yokogawa as an example. According to Koichi Nakajima, “Many of the sustainability issues we face cannot be solved within a single industry”. The general manager for major accounts at Yokogawa’s energy and sustainability business headquarters explains: “… that is where companies like Yokogawa can help by conceptualizing and developing horizontal and vertical supply chain networks. This will require us to enhance our ability to become an integrator of holistic solutions.”
Aggregate and process large amounts of data
Later in the article, Ottewell explains, ‘At many of the company’s projects, a majority of components and equipment come from other vendors – making open architectures such as NAMUR that aggregate and process big data volumes ever more important’. Nakajima adds: “This is not just an IT matter, either, because it takes extensive domain experience to identify the relevant data and [their] importance, and to add context. Connected to this point, we are seeing the need for greater convergence with other types of industries, such as robotics, and IoT [Internet of Things] infrastructure.”
Anyone interested in more information about sustainability and Yokogawa’s commitment should take the opportunity to read the article ‘Sustainability Efforts Link Supply Chain’ by Seán Ottewell at chemicalprocessing.com.
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