By George Taninecz
Manufacturers are far more likely in 2011 to cite sustainability as important to their organization’s success than they were in 2009: 59% rated it important or highly important in 2011 vs. 35% in 2009. The percentage of firms reporting sustainability as not important fell from 16% to 6%, according to the 2011 Next Generation Manufacturing Study.
Not surprisingly, with heightened awareness, the percentage of manufacturers progressing toward world-class sustainability grew as well: 28% of manufacturers reported they were near or at world-class sustainability in 2011 vs. 20% in 2009. The numbers are rising because customers are demanding social responsibility and many manufacturers have recognized the cost-savings available via green efforts (e.g., energy-cost reductions, material-use reductions).
Rate the importance of sustainability to your organization’s success over the next five years:
(% of companies)
| 2009 | 2011 | |
| 1=Not important | 15.6% | 5.8% |
| 2 | 22.6% | 12.9% |
| 3 | 26.7% | 22.1% |
| 4 | 19.4% | 27.7% |
| 5=Highly important | 15.7% | 31.5% |
Rate your organization’s progress toward world-class sustainability:
(% of companies)
| 2009 | 2011 | |
| 1=No progress | 20.8% | 11.3% |
| 2 | 32.0% | 27.1% |
| 3 | 27.2% | 34.2% |
| 4 | 14.7% | 22.2% |
| 5=World-class | 5.4% | 5.3% |
Yet despite greater awareness, the NGM Study found that overall sustainability performance results haven’t improved substantially since 2009. Are your green efforts translating into better results?
