Sustainability still key success factor for manufacturers

Singapore - The global economic crisis might have taken a bite out of manufacturer's revenues, but to put sustainability efforts on the backburner in favour of more immediately impactful cost-cutting strategies might be detrimental in the long run, says Victor Tay, director of transport, logistics, environmental and engineering services at SPRING Singapore.

Manufacturers that will withstand the worst crisis since the Great Depression will be those that are able to provide cost-effective, effective products that come with added services and address social issues, Tay said at a recent Sustainable Manufacturing conference in Singapore.

According to him, even as the economy continues to bite, manufacturers that focus solely on saving bottom lines may lose out in the end. In his presentation, Tay said manufacturers that continue on their sustainability path will find themselves with an edge over the competition when the economy picks up again.

Best in class manufacturers of the future will also be those that come up with products that are service-enhanced, he said. An example of a product like this is the iPod, which comes with the iTunes service, which has an independent revenue-generating stream; or the iPhone, which allows consumers to enable applications from different services on the handset device.