Frost & Sullivan, recently concluded its 5th edition of the 'Green Manufacturing Excellence Awards and Summit (GMEA&S)’ at The Leela, Mumbai. GMEA through this mission lays emphasis on identifying long-term sustainability risks, and an organizational approach to address these issues. Various metrics ranging from sustainable strategy to safety systems, from environmental management to social accountability, are tracked through this platform.
The day started with the Green Manufacturing Excellence Summit where organizations that have worked on their sustainability journey gathered under one roof. Best practices from companies across industries that participated in the award platform were shared by notable industry stalwarts that play an integral role in the field of sustainability in India. The focus through the day was on aligning sustainability initiatives with the business model and creating sustainable "smart" business models. The common message brought to the fore by these companies was that to create success stories it is imperative that financial inclusion be one of the cornerstones of the language of sustainability.
Nitin Kalothia, Director, Manufacturing and Process Consulting, reiterated this in his keynote address. He highlighted that, "during the assessments for GMEA the key finding has been that sustainability for most companies have been initiative driven. The focus areas for these companies have been energy management, material, and products, which, directly impact the bottom line of the company. There needs to be a shift in this concept as the low hanging fruits that come with an initiative based approach would soon dry out. The shift has to be toward considering sustainable "smart" business models that integrate each of the requirements be it resources, waste, energy, supply chain, into the long-term planning and vision of the organization".
This year also saw the introduction of the Safety Excellence Model that took companies through a detailed safety assessment built on five broad parameters (Safety Management Systems, Process Safety, Equipment Safety, Employee Safety, and Occupational Health). These five parameters were further divided into sub-parameters that evaluate and map their journey from a reactive to a proactive safety approach. A detailed feedback on the maturity of a company’s safety system was shared in addition to the GMEA report. The highest scoring companies were recognized for ‘Excellence in Safety’ during the 2014 Green Manufacturing Excellence Awards banquet.
Frost & Sullivan strongly emphasizes that corporates need to take a deeper look at what sustainability means to them. The approach to sustainability needs to start at the drawing board with their Vision and Mission. Companies that have been successful in this have reaped tremendous benefits, not the least – the goodwill of its stakeholders. Some presentations that showcased this have been by Mahindra & Mahindra, ITC Ltd., United Breweries, Hindustan Zinc, and ACC Limited and the topics covered ranged from Sustainability- Business Case to Biodiversity and Organizational impact.
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