Sustainable Manufacturing in the Far East Countries

We ask the head of GIA's Manufacturing and Industrial practice and presenter of the webinar on January 25, 2011, Peter Davey, for his thoughts on sustainable manufacturing in Asia.

Have manufacturers in Asia embraced sustainable manufacturing practices?

"We find that more and more manufacturers in Asia are embracing the concept. We see the growing adoption of renewable energy sources or use of gas-capture and starch extraction procedures.

While financial costs and lack of education have played a part, the main dilemma faced by the largest players has been whether to wait for better environmental data before acting, or to act now using less trusted data, with the risk that their efforts will ultimately be found to be inappropriate or unnecessary. More companies are beginning to act now.

As a reference, 50% of the 20 Asian manufacturers polled in a recent GIA industry survey said that "conservation of finite resources in terms of power and water" and "reducing carbon footprint" are top priorities for 2011-2012. So hopefully we will start to see even more interest in Sustainable manufacturing.

In the webinar, where we provide an overview of sustainable manufacturing in South East Asia, Greater China, Japan and South Korea, we will also showcase three Asian businesses implementing sustainable manufacturing practices."

What are the three Asian companies we will showcase in the webinar?

"We will showcase Bia Thanh Hoa from Vietnam, Jiangsu Farun Group from China and Chokeyoenyong Industries in Thailand.

Bia Thanh Hoa is a brewery in Vietnam that has implemented waste heat recovery practices and thermodynamic enhancements.

Jiangsu Farun Group, a global glass producer that is headquartered in Jiangsu Province in China, is one example of how to reduce dependency on fossil fuel for electricity generation and improve plant energy efficiency.

For Chokeyoenyong Industries, we look at how its starch production plant operates a methane capture system to harvest methane."

What can we learn from the upcoming webinar on "Sustainable Manufacturing in the Far East Countries"?    

"We will discuss the views and drivers behind Sustainable Manufacturing in South East Asia, Greater China, Japan and South Korea, and provide the outlook for Sustainable Manufacturing in the region."

Author: Peter Read, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific, Global Intelligence Alliance

This article and others from GIA's Asia Pacific practice can be found at Global Intelligence Alliance Insights and Analysis

About the Author

Global Intelligence Alliance (GIA) is a strategic market intelligence and advisory group. GIA was formed in 1995 when a team of market intelligence specialists, management consultants, industry analysts and technology experts came together to build a powerful suite of customized solutions ranging from outsourced market monitoring services and software, to strategic analysis and advisory.

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Building a High-Impact Market Intelligence Product Portfolio

You spend large amounts of time to collate research data, survey questionnaires, stakeholder interviews, news alerts and social media information. How can you ensure that your key messages don't get lost in the deliverables?

We ask Hans Hedin, GIA Webinar presenter in Building a High-Impact Market Intelligence Product Portfolio, for some suggestions.

Should intelligence deliverables be branded?

"Yes, branding is most important.

Organizations often suffer from information overload and it might then be difficult to distinguish between internally developed and other reports. Internally developed market intelligence reports typically are of higher quality and consider the organization's perspective fully. If properly branded, such market intelligence deliverables will "stand out" and get identified quickly. This will of course, save time and improve decision-making capability.

On another practical point, branding deliverables means you can track them and hopefully, prevent people from copying and distributing them freely without acknowledging the source.

It also helps to promote your "products" and raise awareness of the market intelligence function.

You can brand both the deliverables and the people who worked on the deliverables. If you illustrate your role within an organization chart, you can also show the rest of the organization who you are and who you work for. This may help build internal authority and credibility. Just make sure you brand the deliverables consistently."

What is the best way to package market intelligence deliverables?

"The market intelligence team needs to develop a comprehensive portfolio of deliverables. This may consist of several levels.

The first level might be "Self Service", where managers obtain off-the-shelf reports regarding specific competitive issues. The second level could then be "Specific Reports", consisting of market, competitor or technology profiles, for example. The third level would be a more "Tailored Market Intelligence" approach, where management has a specific question that the market intelligence team needs to help find the answers to. The final level would be "strategic projects" which consist of sophisticated and in-depth deliverables.

For all three levels, you need to first ensure that you know your audience. Take the initiative to engage your internal customers in a continuous dialogue. It is useful to scope out what will or will not help them, and what you are realistically able to offer in your portfolio of deliverables. Some companies use surveys and benchmarking for this purpose.

Do ask them what questions they are trying to answer. What decisions do they need to make? What do they really need, versus what they would like to have? How much time do they realistically have to review the deliverables? What formats will be most helpful? Do they have any special requirements? For example, adapt your presentations and charts for someone who is visually color challenged. Some companies are even beginning to use videos as delivery tools."

How can deliverables be communicated with credence?

"The person delivering the market intelligence messages must first have the proper authority within the company in order to be able to make the message trustworthy. It might be necessary to develop the competence of the market intelligence professionals so that they become more like management consultants rather than information professionals.

It is helpful that they also present intelligence messages from the recipients' perspective. What are the recommendations and actionable items? What is the impact?

It helps to have a senior executive or board member as a champion, so that more recommendations can be acted upon. For this to happen, you need to make sure you have a seat at leadership forums or meetings."

What can we learn from the GIA webinar on Building a High-Impact Market Intelligence Product Portfolio?

"First, the listeners will get to understand why it is critical to have a complete market intelligence deliverables portfolio, and the competence level needed to produce various types of intelligence deliverables. Next, you will also learn how to create an intelligence portfolio and listen to how Best Buy have successfully developed and extended their market intelligence deliverables.

This webinar is part of a series that we are hosting on the Key Success Factors for World Class Market intelligence, trademarked by GIA. The other webinars coming up will cover market intelligence tools, organization, culture and processes. It is a webinar series we have developed targeted specially at those who are responsible for setting up and running international market intelligence functions."

Author: Hans Hedin, Vice President, Business Development, Global Intelligence Alliance

This article and others from GIA's World Class Market Intelligence practice can be found at Global Intelligence Alliance Insights and Analysis

About the Author

Global Intelligence Alliance (GIA) is a strategic market intelligence and advisory group. GIA was formed in 1995 when a team of market intelligence specialists, management consultants, industry analysts and technology experts came together to build a powerful suite of customized solutions ranging from outsourced market monitoring services and software, to strategic analysis and advisory.

Visit Global Intelligence Alliance