Sustainable Manufacturing – From Product Design to Vast DataSustainable Manufacturing – From Product Design to Vast Data

Zoé Bezpalko, Autodesk’s sustainability expert, will present three sessions on critical sustainability issues at the Sustainable Manufacturing Expo on Feb. 4.

Rob Spiegel

January 17, 2025

4 Min Read
sustainable manufacturing expo
Dilok Klaisataporn for iStock / Getty Images Plus via Getty Images

At a Glance

  • Manufacturers can adopt innovative technologies that drive down both emissions and cost.
  • Regulations are showing up as the top driver for sustainability in manufacturing.
  • Software tools used during the design phase can mitigate a product's carbon footprint.

Twenty years ago, getting a handle on sustainable manufacturing meant cutting energy costs. The world has changed dramatically over the past two decades. Now, sustainable manufacturing involves product design, materials selection, design for manufacturing, advanced automation, adherence to regulations and data – tons and tons of data.

All of these issues will be explored at the first trade show devoted entirely to clean production, the Sustainable Manufacturing Expo, on Feb. 4-5 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

The show will offer dozens of free education sessions that explore sustainable practices across multiple industry sectors. One of the major speakers is the clean production expert, Zoé Bezpalko, senior sustainability strategy manager for design & manufacturing at Autodesk. Bezpalko will present three sessions. In two of the sessions, she will look at design for sustainability and navigating the world of data needed for sustainable manufacturing.

Zoé Bezpalko explains her take on sustainability instruction:

A panel on practical sustainability

In her third session, Bezpalko will participate in and moderate the panel, How Manufacturers Can Reduce Emissions and Improve Profitability, which takes place on Tuesday, February 4, at 2:15 PM. Panelists include Jay Ruckelshaus, head of climate strategy at Gravity, and Alex West, senior principal analyst for Industrial IoT at analyst firm, Omdia.

Related:Sustainable Manufacturing Expo Announces Key Industry Partners

Bezpalko noted that the panel will highlight innovative technologies that manufacturers can adopt to drive emissions and cost reductions. “We will look at how manufacturers can be more sustainable and profitable,” said Bezpalko. “We have a speaker from Gravity Climate, an Autodesk partner that provides the data that enables us to calculate carbon footprint into our Fusion platform. We also have Alex West from Omdia, a market intelligence company.”

The panel will explore the current and upcoming regulations that impact manufacturers. “Regulations are showing up as the top driver for sustainability in manufacturing,” said Bezpalko. “Manufacturers need to understand and report the impact of their production as well as reporting on the electricity they use in their factories. Gravity Climate has solutions to help companies streamline the data that comes from various places.”

She noted that Autodesk has added sustainability functionality to its Fusion platform to make sustainability efforts easier for users. “Autodesk enables the aggregation of that data. We have some customer examples we'll bring along to illustrate how some companies are driving sustainability,” said Bezpalko.

Related:Schneider Electric, HP to Keynote First Sustainable Manufacturing Expo

The panel will also look at sustainability issues and regulations that manufacturers can expect to see going forward. “We will look to the future. What will the next 5 to 10 years bring?” said Bezpalko. “We hope to leave the audience with a call to action. If you could do one thing today, where would it be?”

Bringing PLM into the sustainability mix

Another panel presented by Bezpalko will look at bringing life cycle assessment into the design process to ensure sustainability. The session, Designing for Sustainability: Leveraging Life Cycle Assessment and Software Tools in the Early Stages on Tuesday, February 4, at 11:00 AM, will explore the design phase of a product. Bezpalko noted that the phase plays a pivotal role in determining the overall environmental impact of a product. The design process determines up to 80% of a product's environmental impact. The decisions around materials and manufacturing processes determine just how sustainable the product will become.

Bezpalko will offer a deep dive into the principles of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), discuss its challenges for designers and manufacturers, and review specific software tools that can be utilized during the design phase to mitigate a product's carbon footprint.

Related:Sustainable Manufacturing Expo Hits North America

Managing vast sustainability data

The next session by Bezpalko will look at strategies to effectively manage the prodigious data involved in sustainable manufacturing. In the session, Sustainability in Digital Factories: Navigating the Data Challenge, on Tuesday, February 4, at 12:15 PM, Bezpalko will explore projects that bridge sustainability data with digital twins to enhance sustainability and efficiency in factories. From water management to energy efficiency, she will highlight diverse strategies for achieving sustainability in factory settings, thereby offering a roadmap towards a more sustainable future for manufacturing.

Click here to attend the Sustainable Manufacturing Expo on Feb. 4-5 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

About the Author

Rob Spiegel

Rob Spiegel serves as a senior editor for Design News. He started with Design News in 2002 as a freelancer covering sustainability issues, including the transistion in electronic components to RoHS compliance. Rob was hired by Design News as senior editor in 2011 to cover automation, manufacturing, 3D printing, robotics, AI, and more.

Prior to his work with Design News, Rob worked as a senior editor for Electronic News and Ecommerce Business. He served as contributing editolr to Automation World for eight years, and he has contributed to Supply Chain Management Review, Logistics Management, Ecommerce Times, and many other trade publications. He is the author of six books on small business and internet commerce, inclluding Net Strategy: Charting the Digital Course for Your Company's Growth.

He has been published in magazines that range from Rolling Stone to True Confessions.

Rob has won a number of awards for his technolloghy coverage, including a Maggy Award for a Design News article on the Jeep Cherokee hacking, and a Launch Team award for Ecommerce Business. Rob has also won awards for his leadership postions in the American Marketing Association and SouthWest Writers.

Before covering technology, Rob spent 10 years as publisher and owner of Chile Pepper Magazine, a national consumer food publication. He has published hundreds of poems and scores of short stories in national publications.

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