Sustainability at IMTS and Beyond

The September edition of Modern Machine Shop is dedicated to the technologies and trends that will be on display at North America’s largest manufacturing event, IMTS – The International Manufacturing Technology Show. Our cover story details four major themes across this year’s event, including the connection between manufacturers and their customers, automation, supply chain and workforce. But there is another theme that I will be paying close attention to at this year’s show — a theme that, for now at least, is sometimes approached differently in the U.S. than it is in Europe and Asia: energy consumption and sustainability.

Over the past several years, sustainability has emerged as a critical factor for the domestic manufacturing industry as well as an interest of national security. While Europe and Asia seem to confront the issue more directly than we do in the U.S., I have noticed a growing awareness of its criticality among domestic suppliers and those of us who cover the industry. Case in point: Earlier this year, Gardner Business Media, the parent company of Modern Machine Shop, appointed a correspondent to cover the topic of sustainability in manufacturing. Anecdotally, I’ve also noticed that conversations around energy consumption and raw material sourcing are becoming more frequent at industry events.

This was driven home for me back in April, when editor-in-chief Brent Donaldson and I traveled to Germany and Austria to visit several of Ceratizit’s production facilities. Woven through the story of how Ceratizit produces cutting tools and other wear parts, from carbide powder to finished products, was the company’s mission to advance sustainability in manufacturing, first launched in 2022. Company leadership has set a goal to be a leader for sustainability in the carbide industry and reaching carbon neutrality as early as 2025.

One of the first steps Ceratizit is undertaking to advance these efforts is to publish a product carbon footprint (PCF) classification, which is calculated based on the carbon dioxide emissions of the raw materials and production processes, each weighted with efficiency factors. These calculations are in line with ISO 14067:2018 standards and have been reviewed by a third party.  Ceratizit has then organized the CO₂ emissions per kilogram for each of its products into an A through F scale.

Once the company has calculated baseline PCF data, the next step is to reduce the carbon footprint of its products by incorporating secondary raw or reprocessed (recycled) materials. Ceratizit has three carbide recycling facilities — one in Towanda, Pennsylvania, one in Finland and one at its production site in Reutte, Austria, which we were able to visit on our trip. And later this year it will launch a new product made from the carbide grade called CT-GS20Y that’s made of 99% reprocessed materials.

Across the Pond

Although I’ve noticed more discussion of sustainability in manufacturing stateside, the conversation is being mostly driven by large companies based in Europe and Asia. The European Union is moving forward with sustainability regulations — large companies in the EU will soon need to begin publishing regular reports on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks they face, and on how their activities impact people and the environment.

For several complex reasons, the path toward sustainability in our domestic manufacturing industry is not as established as it is in Europe and Asia. Seeing first-hand how the topic is treated by a European manufacturer was enlightening, as was the company’s approach toward introducing this highly politicized topic to the American market. The solution that Ceratizit seems to be landing on for its U.S. is an emphasis on how sustainable manufacturing can benefit the end user, specifically through cost reduction and performance increases.

For example, Ceratizit acknowledges that recycled carbide has a reputation as being inferior to virgin material, citing this belief is one of the biggest hurdles in its sustainability messaging. But the company says CT-GS20Y cutting tools perform up to 20% better than similar tools due to the quality of the carbide and new geometries. 

When it comes to supply chain concerns, using infinitely recyclable carbide allows Ceratizit to maintain complete control of its carbide supply chain. As China is reported to have 75% of the world’s supply of tungsten — a crucial component of carbide — this becomes not only a sustainability concern, but one of national security. Not having to rely on constant new streams of raw material would not only stabilize the supply chain, but also greatly reduce energy consumption and costs from mining and processing tungsten and other minerals. These supply chain benefits will, as raw materials become more strictly controlled, trickle down to end users in the form of consistent pricing and availability of cutting tools.

It is not lost on Ceratizit that its plan requires a steady supply of recycled carbide. The company is making a concerted effort to ensure its customers send back worn-out cutting tools instead of disposing of them. As one Ceratizit employee put it, “Scrap is the new gold in our business.” The company is considering options for incentivizing customers to participate by possibly paying market rate for scrap or offering credit for sending back worn tools.

Sustainability on Display

Ceratizit will be among several companies exhibiting at IMTS this year with a focus on sustainability. Chiron Group will be showing its Micro 5 micro milling machine, which is said to be five times lighter than larger machines, and can reduce energy consumption by as much as 50 fold compared to conventional systems. Okuma is also featuring a machine with energy-saving technology — the Genos M560V-5AX, which uses the company’s Thermo-Friendly Concept to achieve stable, high-accuracy machining while controlling energy-related costs. And I expect to see sustainability throughout the Additive Manufacturing Sector, where reduced energy and material use, as well as lightweighting capabilities, are commonly known benefits of AM.