Minimal Solutions

This article discusses aspects of different manufacturing developments where manufacturers are working with researchers to develop ways to make products using less material and energy. Manufacturers looking to make American factories more competitive with foreign-based facilities are finding opportunities through re-engineering long-held wasteful practices. As a part of a multi-pronged approach, Pradeep Rohatgi, professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, is leading an effort at reducing embodied-energy and decreasing emissions (REMADE) to examine manufacturing processes. REMADE aims to develop technology enablers to accomplish such goals as reducing primary feedstock consumption in manufacturing by 30 percent, reducing energy demand of secondary material processing by 30 percent, and achieving a 25 percent improvement in embodied energy efficiency of materials such as metals, polymers, fibers, and electronic waste. According to an expert, with embedded energy as the measuring stick, it is also possible to find manufacturing processes that produce very low life-cycle energy costs using carbon fiber composites or high-strength steels.