Lean and Green

Chapter 9Design Resource Savings into Products and Processes

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Pushing technology is one of the main ways to achieve profitable environmental steps—to become a leading-edge user. Even though Kyocera may have to pay a higher price for designing such technology, investing early gives Kyocera an early return.

—Hisashi Sakumi, general manager,General Affairs Division, Kyocera

THE Lean and Green ideas that most benefit the environment and your organization’s profitability are those implemented at the early stage of product or process design. “Designing for the environment” means thinking environmentally early in a product’s lifetime—at the time of design. It is at this early stage that environmental problems or waste can be avoided before they ...