Amada’s journey towards greener production is just beginning. But matters such as responsibility, well-being, and a sense of community are already embedded in the company’s DNA. At Amada, everyone takes responsibility; for themselves, their colleagues, and the company’s products.
For Anders Wickman, Amada’s quality and environmental manager, the concept of sustainability has long seemed wide-ranging and difficult to break down into achievable tasks. But Amada has now entered a new phase. It is building on its emphasis on responsibility and is addressing its operational values, including its commitment to sustainability. The three keywords here are: responsibility, commitment, transparency.
– The aim is to achieve the right balance between social, economic, and environmental sustainability. It’s always important to look at the various options, even if it’s not always possible to make the most ecological choice, he says.
Amada already uses “green” electricity, has switched to powder-based paint in the new paint shop, sorts waste meticulously, and is working to optimise transport and reduce the volume of waste produced. But all these measures are standard practice at Amada.
– We’ve thought a lot about sustainability over the past two years, and soon realised that we’ve already been working on many of these issues for a long time. A lot of it is a matter of common sense to us, even if we haven’t always explained it very clearly,” he says.
Responsibility is permeated in every part of the company
In the assembly hall there is an ambience of concentration and calm. It’s orderly, and everything is in its proper place. This is where Amada’s high-tech metalworking machinery is assembled for its mainly European and North American customers. More than 95 per cent of the machinery it makes is exported.
CEO Greg Seymour says Amada is expanding. A new receiving area has just been completed. A new assembly hall, paint shop, and office building will all come into use later this year. Upholding the group’s values is the shared responsibility of Greg Seymour, Anders Wickman, and all other members of the management team. Talking about those values always bring Seymour back to the subject of responsibility.
– In the end, it’s all about us as individuals. How we feel affects our interactions with others and, ultimately, our products. Responsibility applies to the way we act internally, and to the way we do business with our subcontractors. Taking care of our partners is a matter of local responsibility. More than 80% of our metal suppliers are located within a radius of 100 kilometres.
Sustainability should be a way of thinking
Economic and social sustainability are already part of Amada’s ethos, and efforts to achieve climate neutrality are underway. The company is currently preparing policies on carbon emissions, and deciding what further measures must be taken with respect to its operations and products. Seymour says he doesn’t want this to become a project that is worked hard on for a while, and which then fades away.
– Instead, we will commit to ensuring that the ecological part receives as much attention as the other two, and that an environmental frame of mind is at the core of the company’s strategy. Sustainability should not be a project, but a way of thinking.
AMADA Automation Europe – About us
AMADA Automation Europe, or AAE, is part of the AMADA Group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-tech metalworking machinery. AAEE is located in Bennäs, Pedersöre. It is the group’s largest European manufacturing facility for automation solutions, with 190 employees. The group’s headquarters are in Japan. Worldwide, Amada comprises 100 companies and over 9,000 employees.
https://amada-automation.eu/en/
Read our other Sustainability stories
This series of articles have been produced within the CIT-project (Circular Insights and Transition) which is financed by the European Regional Development Fund, The Council of Ostrobothnia together with all Development companies in Ostrobothnia.
