Performance Excellence in Business Operations Essay

Performance Excellence in Business Operations - Essay Example A broad strategy involving minimisation of energy use and climate change impact, a reduction in emissions into the environment, better resource management through recycling and avoidance of substances of concern for the automobile is now necessary for the automobile industry. Automakers must ensure acceptance for their products and diversify fuels used for automobiles. Practical implementation of the automobile industry strategy for the future must involve implementation of environmental control systems based on the ISO 14001, greening of production and logistics, consideration of the vehicle life cycle and a reduction in energy used for manufacturing automobiles. Waste recycling, together with a reduction in the use of water for manufacturing and minimisation of harmful products into the environment supports the desired environmental strategy. Design and innovation focusing on fuel efficiency, recycling, reduction in tailpipe emissions, avoidance of substances of concern and use of renewable resources and materials for automobiles must continue to shape and help sustain the future. Major automobile manufacturers around the world continue to emphasise on the previously mentioned efforts to ensure a future for the automobile, but a certain emphasis is lacking for the following: Serious and concerted efforts to design vehicles that operate on stored electric energy, perhaps because this will require a radical departure from the automobile concept as we know it when profits and economics still makes sense. Efforts to make the servicing and maintenance of automobiles present lower environmental impacts. Although legislation now constrains automobile manufacturers to assume responsibility for recycling automobile components and automobiles at the end of service life, manufacturers have avoided presenting clearly how they intend to do this. Thus, it is not yet clear if recycling and reclamation of automobile parts and automobiles will not have complex environmental i mpacts that may exacerbate the environmental impact of the automobile over its life cycle. Contents Part 1: Research Report Introduction 1 Approaches to Environmental Management for the Automobile Industry 2 Operational Aspects of Environmental Management for the Automobile Industry 5 End-of-Life Regulation and Recovery Technology for Automobiles 10 Best Practices for Environmental Management in the Automobile Industry 13 Conclusion 17 Bibliography / References 20 List of Figures Figure 1: Product Environmental Performance Indicators for an Automobile Spare Part 9 Figure 2: Toyota’s Environmental Action Plan 15 Part 2: Personal Reflection on Team Presentations Introduction 27 Reflections 28 Conclusion 32 Bibliography / References 33 (This page intentionally left blank) Part 1: Research Report Introduction In the present day and age, the automotive industry must confront the twin threats of economic and environmental pressures (Wells, 2010, Pp. 1 – 10). According to Wel ls (2010, Pp. 1 – 10), not only is the world now recovering from a burgeoning economic slowdown, but also the pressures imposed on the planet by human activities is now reaching critical levels with threats to the environment and the ecosystem compounding problems. The future presents a broad decline in fossil fuel production and a decline in natural reserves to satisfy the vivacious appetite of humanity. With more than one billion vehicles populating earth, the globe is accelerating towards the