Defining Product Sustainability Hotspots to Enhance Business Opportunities
Company Size
1,000+
Region
- Africa
- America
- Europe
- Middle East
Country
- Italy
- United States
Product
- Sphera’s Sustainability Consulting
- Product Sustainability (GaBi) software
- Product Sustainability Databases
Tech Stack
- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) model
- Automated eco-design tool
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Environmental Impact Reduction
- Innovation Output
- Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
- Analytics & Modeling - Process Analytics
Applicable Industries
- Electronics
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Manufacturing System Automation
- Predictive Maintenance
Services
- Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
- Data Science Services
About The Customer
Whirlpool Corporation is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of home appliances, with approximately $22 billion in annual sales, 69,000 employees, and 54 manufacturing and technology research centers as of 2021. The Fortune 500 company markets Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, Consul, Brastemp, Amana, Bauknecht, Jenn-Air, Indesit, Hotpoint, and other major brand names in nearly every country throughout the world. In Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), it has approximately 24,000 employees, a sales presence in more than 30 countries, and manufacturing sites in eight countries. Whirlpool EMEA is an operating segment of Whirlpool Corporation. Whirlpool Corporation’s European Operations Center is located in Pero, Italy.
The Challenge
Whirlpool Corporation, a global manufacturer of home appliances, faced several challenges. They needed to quantify the environmental impacts of their products throughout their entire life cycle to improve their environmental performance. They also wanted to integrate environmental KPIs among the main drivers of product development. Furthermore, they aimed to identify potential areas of improvement and hotspots that needed to be addressed in a conscious PCR development for refrigerators.
The Solution
Whirlpool EMEA worked with Sphera to create an automated eco-design tool that enables the company to perform environmental impact analyses of its products throughout their life cycle, identify hotspots and areas for improvement, and compare alternative product scenarios. As a foundation of the tool, Sphera’s sustainability experts developed a parameterized Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) model to represent different refrigerator types using Sphera’s Product Sustainability (GaBi) software and databases. Sphera’s Sustainability Consulting and Product Sustainability Software and Databases help organizations improve the environmental performance of their products and services by enabling data-driven decisions during design and planning, advancing product innovation and eco-design, and providing access to industry-based, high-quality Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data.
Operational Impact
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