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How does a company respond to the ever-growing focus on sustainability?

MVIS has committed to achieving net zero carbon in line with its client base, carefully monitoring its development and production processes to continually improve the sustainability element of its product range.

MVIS is constantly striving to increase solar and battery output to minimise site visits and time spent on site, with a process centred around developing products which are fully self-sufficient on power.

With the addition of MVIS’ environmental sensors, the company can also now monitor and report on a live working environment to measure gases for air quality, dust and noise levels on sites. This is in addition to displaying important environmental messaging to workers and the general public in real time, whilst aligning with a clients’ environmental KPI’s.

The R&D process

Each MVIS idea has to go through a strategic process. One which sees lots of information gathered before a new idea even goes into development.

Before a product idea gets signed off for development, MVIS will know what testing procedures are needed to make it compliant to present standards, how long a prototype will take, what sort of software is required, and a budget will be allocated to the project along with a timeline.

How has the R&D process changed?

“There has been a significant increase in the questions and requirements relating to sustainability and environmental impact, particularly in major projects,” says MVIS Sales Director Graeme Lee. Graeme has spent the last decade with MVIS, and so is perfectly placed to have witnessed the change in sustainable thinking over the last 10 years.

“Environmental accreditations have become a standard requirement, with the industry constantly driving the supply chain to develop the very latest technology powered by sustainable methods,” Graeme continued.

“I’d say this has really snowballed over the last 3-4 years, but MVIS’ has placed sustainability at the forefront of product development since inception in 2012, so whilst I feel the industry has had a bit of a mass shift when it comes to sustainable thinking, our R&D process hasn’t seen too much of a change at all really. It’s something we were ahead of the general curve on and so it’s all part of the daily operation for us.”

2012 v 2022 – what’s changed?

“With the country and Government promising to achieve environmental targets, there has undoubtedly been a change in focus regarding sustainability over the last 10 years.,” Graeme added.

“On the back of this ‘go greener’ attitude that’s swept the sector, the biggest change for us is probably the volume of enquiries that reference or specifically request sustainable credentials. That’s not to say companies didn’t value this element when hiring from MVIS previously, but it’s now much more obvious that this is an absolute necessity and not just an additional benefit.”

Source: HighwaysIndustry.com