Environment

Manufacturing is an energy-intensive activity. The U.S. government estimates that manufacturing consumes about one-third of the energy used in the country, stated Scott Hibbard, vice president of technology for Bosch Rexroth Corp., Hoffman Estates, Ill., in his paper “Six keys to sustainable manufacturing.”

The Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU, Chemnitz, Germany, wanted to study the impact of climate change on machines without having to ship them to far-flung locales. Therefore, the institute developed a climate chamber at its newly inaugurated test lab in which it could expose machines to various climates around the world.