|
|
| September 2009 |
Vol 1, Issue 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
Advanced Web - It's Easy Being Green |
|
 Let's face it. Going green is not just a passing trend. It's not just a hip and groovy term that the kids are saying nowadays in schoolyards and on the college campuses. Rather, this act of greening one's lifestyle and one's environment, is a revolution. What may have began as a personal choice is now an integral part of a business' core responsibility.
The growing sustainability phenomenon has marked its territory on nearly every branch of business - from the mom-and-pop shop to the Fortune 500 company. Everywhere you turn companies are pledging their allegiance to sustainability in their advertisements, seminars, social media and websites. It has business executives rethinking their next step, because successes and failures are now oftentimes measured by the carbon footprints they leave behind. Needless to say, if you haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet, then best be prepared to be run over by it! Whether you're already on good terms with Mother Nature, or you're willing to take the plunge, Advanced Web's sustainable solutions make it easy for your business to go green - and to stay that way! |
|
Recycling Compatible Adhesives |
For the label-converting industry, and the businesses and consumers that use its products, recyclable labels have posed as a key obstacle in the quest for sustainability. In the United States, the recycling rate is now up to 57% - the highest it has ever been. That being said, more and more labels are being entered into the recycling process each day.
Conventional pressure sensitive adhesives (or PSAs) are a problem in the recycling process because they host a number of substances that are considered contaminates - including plastics and metals. PSAs present in recycled papers can be converted into small particles during processing and result in 'stickies' that can build up on process equipment and cause defects in the final paper product. A quote from the United States Postal Office places emphasis on the difficulty presented by PSAs, "The most problematic adhesives are those that are attached to a paper backing such as paper labels. During pulping, as the paper is reduced to individual paper fibers, the adhesive tends to shred into particles that are too small to be easily removed." Today the cost of 'stickies' to paper companies is estimated to be more than $700 million per year.
Advanced Web offers recycling compatible adhesives (or RCAs) as a sustainable solution to the PSA recycling problem. An RCA is a paper label with an adhesive that can be preferentially removed during paper recycling by screening or other conventional paper recycling processing operations. RCAs can be used for both general purpose permanent adhesive and hard repositionable adhesive. Businesses and consumers can do their part to reduce the environmental cost of adhesives by specifying and purchasing paper to paper labels coated with RCAs. |
|
 |
|
Advanced Web Links |
|
latest post: Fire & Ice |
|
27% of all consumers state that a company's environmental and social actions have an impact on their buying decisions.
source: NPD Group Survey | |
|
|
Other Sustainable Solutions |
Benefits:
 Designed to compost quickly completely and safely, without leaving behind plastic residues
- High strength and dimensional stability
- Excellent printability using traditional printing methods
- High clarity for 'no-label' look
- Fully biodegradable base films and coatings
- Suitable for disposal in both industrial and home composting environments
- Certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute
Natural Liners
- Eliminates the bleaching process
- Super-calendered liner is an environmentally-friendly alternative that doesn't sacrifice die-cutting and stripping performance
Environmentally-Friendly Supplier Manufacturing
- Minimize air emissions and hazardous waste by using only water-based acrylic adhesives and solventless silicone
- Manufacturing waste is recycled and used as an energy source
- Pre-treated waste water, eases burden on the public treatment facilities
|
|
AW's Green Facility Management |
Advanced Web is committed to social responsibility through sustainable facility management and processes.
We achieve sustainability through:
- Newly installed enery-efficient lighting system in our plant - we went from 465 watts to 170 watts!
- Digital plate-making - eliminating the need for films/negatives
- Recycling poly films used in the manufacturing process and recycling raw materials
- Recycling metal
- Reusing boxes and plastic cores
- Recycling liners/printing waste through Channeled Resources Group
- Water-based inks - avoiding toxic chemicals
- Alternate work schedules to reduce energy use during peak periods
- Converting reports to a PDF format - significantly reducing office printing and paper use.
|
|
AW is a PIM Certified 'Great Printer' |
|
 The Printing Industry of Minnesota (PIM) Great Printer Environment Initiative is a voluntary program aimed at increasing environmental, health and safety compliance and pollution prevention within the printing industry. A printer that chooses to participate in the PIM Great Printer Environmental Initiative is one that has demonstrated their company's impact on human health and the environment.
1. Commit to the PIM Great Printer Environmental Initiative Principles
2. Complete an Environmental, Health and Safety Compliance Audit
3. Pursue Beyond Compliance Projects.
Michelle Zeller, CFO of Advanced Web says, "Qualifying as a Great Printer is a big step towards achieving our sustainability goal and reducing the impact we have on our environment, but it is not the only initiative we have planned."
Advanced Wed is also an ISO 9001-2000 certified company. |
|
Lean Manufacturing |
The first step to eliminating waste is seeing it. While this may seem like a simple principle to follow, it can be a difficult process to begin. At Advanced Web we have come to realize that everything we do that is not perceived as value-added to our customers is instead considered as waste. To eliminate this problem, we have employed simple Lean Manufacturing initiatives and tools. We have come to understand that 'good enough' never is, and no process can ever be thought perfect. Rather, our operations must be improved continuously, striving for innovation and evolution across all work departments and the processes that lay within.
Lean Manufacturing is a process management philosophy derived mostly from the Toyota Production System and its core principles are focused around both efficiency and workflow as they work to expose and solve existing cost and quality issues. It's renowned for its focus on reduction of waste in order to improve overall customer value.
 To build a successful Lean transformation, we have taken on Kaizen events in order to foster the teamwork and commitment necessary to reach set goals. The Kaizen teams are given clear objectives that require them to break current paradigms using facilitated methodology that requires measurement, analysis, decision making, and implementation at each step.
Current Advanced Web Kaizens:
5S - sorting, straightening, shining, standardizing and sustaining
- A philosophy and a way of organizing and managing the workspace and the workflow with the intent to improve efficiency by eliminating waste, improving flow and reducing process unevenness.
- Builds a clear understanding, between employees, of how work should be done.
- It instills ownernship of the process to each employee.
Standard Work -
- A documented and agreed upon method of current best practices
- Safety
- Quality
- Productivity
Setup Reduction -
- Setup Time = the total length of time between the "last good part" of the previous run and the "first good part" of the next run.
|
|
7 Wastes of Lean Manufacturing |
Waste elimination is one of the most effective ways to increase the profitability of any business. Processes either add value or waste to the production of a good or service. The seven wastes originated in Japan, where waste is known as "muda."
The 7 Wastes is a tool to further categorize "muda" and was originally developed by Toyota's Chief Engineer Taiichi Ohno as the core of the Toyota Production System. While products significantly differ between factories, the typical wastes found in manufacturing environments are quite similar. For each waste, there is a strategy to reduce or eliminate its effect on a company, thereby improving overall performance and quality.
Advanced Web is committed to reducing the 7 Wastes of Lean from our processes:
1. Defects - any operation that produces scrap or rework
2. Overproduction - to produce a product before the customer wants it or to produce more product than the customer wanted
3. Transportation - waste occurs when there is unnecessary movement or handling of materials
4. Motion - any movement of a person's body that does not add value is wasted motion
5. Waiting - Idle time created when materials, parts, information, people or equipment is not ready when required
6. Inventory - raw material, work in process, and finished goods are all non-value added
7. Processing - all non-value added process steps or actions taken that are not important to or required by the customer |
|
|
|
We hope that this newsletter provided you with enough valuable insight to help guide you and your business in future sustainable endeavors. If you have any questions, comments, or would like a copy of our Sustainability Powerpoint Presentation, please contact:
Cassandra
|
|
Advanced Web
600 Hoover Street
Suite 500
Minneapolis, MN 55413
Ph: (612) 706-3700
Toll Free: 1-800-424-4154 | |
|
|
|
|
