Cradle to cradle

This term was invented by Walter R. Stahel in the 1970s and popularised
by
William McDonough and Michael Braungart in their 2002 book of the
same name.
Cradle to Cradle (C2C):

A manufacturing principle that seeks to

create production techniques that are not
just efficient but are essentially waste-free
and truly sustainable.
Cradle-to-Cradle
In cradle-to-cradle manufacturing all material inputs and outputs are
seen either as technical or biological resources. Technical resources –
such as scrap steel – can be recycled or reused with no loss of quality.

Biological resources – such as waste products from food processing –

can be composted and reused in an environmentally friendly way.
Cradle to Grave
Cradle to grave refers to a business taking
responsibility for the disposal of goods it has
produced – for example, by safe disposal of waste
or unwanted products – but not putting the
products’ constituent components back into the
production process.
CRADLE TO CRADLE (C2C) – FULLY SUSTAINABLE
PRODUCTION?
• Examples of C2C processes exist in many industries. Onion farms on the California coast turn waste
into energy. The office furniture company Herman Miller uses materials that can be recycled or
composted. Even Rungis, Paris’s largest wholesale market, avoids sending waste to landfill and uses
it to fuel its operations and part of the energy needs of Orly airport. Many companies have found
success from implementing cradle-to-cradle systems with plastic and paper materials. A true
‘closed-loop’ system
• in which materials are reused indefinitely is not yet a reality, but could be within a few years.
• One cradle-to-cradle leader is DSM, the Dutch plastic giant. It has developed cradle- to-cradle
systems since 2008, actively working with McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC), the
consultancy that awards cradle-to-cradle certifications to businesses. DSM received these
certifications for several of its products, including Arnitel and Akulon, plastics that can be used for
moulding various products – from automobile components to engineering devices. These plastics
can be fully recycled without impairing the quality of the new finished products that are made from
them.
1. Define the term ‘cradle-to-cradle manufacturing’. [2]
2. Outline two benefits to a business of using cradle-to-cradle manufacturing. [4]
3. Explain how using cradle-to-cradle manufacturing might increase business cost. [4]
Managing quality

• A good or service that meets customers’ expectations and is therefore

‘fit for purpose’
• A quality product does not necessarily have to be the ‘best possible’.
• Consumer expectations will be very different for goods and services
sold at different prices.
• A quality product does not have to be made with the highest-quality
materials to the most exacting standards – but it must meet
consumer requirements.
Is too much quality Expensive ?
• Internal parts for a jet engine used on a passenger plane will be
expected to have a failure rate of less than one in one million
• However, if fashion clothing was made to the same exacting standards
– with regards to stitching, buttons, zips and so on – how much would
a pair of jeans cost then?
• Designing too much quality into a product that consumers do not
expect to last for many years can make the product very expensive
and uncompetitive.
Quality is a relative concept and not an absolute one – it depends on
the product’s price and the expectations of consumers.

• A quality product does not have to be expensive. If low-cost light

bulbs and clothes pegs last for several years in normal use, then they
have still met consumer expectations and have been of the required
quality
• So a highly priced good may still be of low quality if it fails to come up
to consumer requirements.A cheap good can be considered of good
quality if it performs as expected.
Quality ( once again )

Quality is a relative concept and not

an absolute one – it depends on the
product’s price and the expectations
of consumers.
Quality standards:
The expectations of customers expressed in terms of
the minimum acceptable production or service standards
• Eg: The reliability of cars or the wear rate of clothes
The advantages of producing quality products and services are:

• Easier to create customer loyalty

• Saves on the costs associated with customer complaints – for example,
compensation, replacing defective products and loss of consumer
goodwill
• Longer life cycles
• Less advertising may be necessary as the brand will establish a quality
image through the performance of the products
• A higher price – a price premium – could be charged for such goods and
services.
• Quality can, therefore, be profitable.
Quality is a crucial issue for service providers
too.
• For example, the quality of service offered by UK banks is claimed to
be inferior to those in other countries in terms of:
• Time taken to answer the telephone
No indication of waiting time on the telephone
• Queuing time in branches
• contact with the same person on each occasion
• number of accounts errors made
• quality of financial advice given.
Do research and answer the question
• What are the differences between quality control
and quality assurance?

• Explain the Quality-control techniques

Quality-control techniques
• Prevention
• Inspection
• Correction and improvement
• Inspecting for quality
These stages of quality assurance include:

• The quality assurance department will need to consider all areas of

the firm. Agreed standards must be established at all stages of the
process from initial product idea to it finally reaching the consumer.
• Product design
• Quality of inputs
• Production quality
• Delivery systems
• Customer service including after-sales service