City & Guilds Senior Award: Sustainable Manufacturing

The Sustainable Manufacturing module will give your people the fundamental knowledge necessary to contribute and co-ordinate initiatives to reduce your company’s environmental impacts, associated costs and other corporate risks. It will provide individuals with practical skills needed to understand environmental management and lead improvements, reducing costs and boosting your reputation.

To achieve the qualification individuals must undertake a practical improvement project to demonstrate what they have learnt. Typical examples could lead to energy reductions, increased recycling, lower raw material costs or reduce corporate risk. The course is ideal for those new to environmental responsibility or who need formal recognition of their environmental knowledge. It is also approved by IEMA, the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment.

On completion, individuals will understand:

* What sustainability means in real terms to a manufacturing business.
* How to assess the environmental impacts of your organisation and evaluate renewable materials, energy management, compliance, waste management and logistics.
* How current and future legislation could affect your organisation.
* How to implement an environmental management system, e.g. ISO14001.
* How to present and communicate environmental concepts to management and colleagues.

This will help your company to:
* Cut energy costs at the same time as reducing environmental impacts.
* Minimise waste and identify opportunities for reuse and recycling.
* Successfully implement or demonstrate continuous improvement under ISO14001.
* Improve its reputation, marketability and environmental risk management.

The content

Sustainable manufacturing: What does it mean, how does it affect business, what are the drivers, globally, nationally, locally?

Environmental legislation What applies to your business, how to comply, the risks of non-compliance and future trends.

Lean manufacturing: How modern manufacturing methods can be used to support the sustainability agenda, increasing productivity and profitability and reducing waste.

Resource efficiency Reviewing raw material inputs and processes, considering and evaluating alternatives to reduce impact or cut costs

Procurement and the supply chain Upwards and downwards, understand your customer requirements and how to influence your suppliers.

Energy management & efficiency:- Evaluating energy usage to reduce consumption and cut spiralling costs.

Waste management Understand the true cost of waste to your organisation, cut disposable costs, understand the waste hierarchy, analyse waste streams and apply key legislation.

Developing environmental management systems: Understand the background and basic principles, using an EMS as a tool for improvement, an introduction to environmental auditing for ISO14001, BS8555 or the Acorn Scheme.