IDS Imaging Development Systems has been awarded ISO 14001 environmental management certification, confirming that the machine vision specialist has implemented an efficient environmental management system and complies with all applicable requirements and regulations.
The ISO 14001 international standard provides the most important accreditation of environmental management in the manufacturing industry. Certification is voluntary. Currently, only about 4,000 companies in Germany have achieved certification.
The machine vision specialist has been ISO 9001 certified since 2005. Certification to the ISO 14001 environmental standard was thus the next logical step for IDS, which had introduced a resource-saving production and sustainable economic management system long before the eco audit. 'Environmental protection has always been a very important issue for us. In concrete terms, this means that we aim at developing and manufacturing products with minimal impact on our environment and workplace throughout the product lifecycle,' explained Eric Zimmermann, quality and environment manager at IDS.
The new production and office building, which was finished in 2008, is powered by geothermal and solar energy. The building is carbon neutral on the annual average. In the nine-month preparatory phase leading up to the eco audit, additional measures were implemented, including lead-free electronics production and reusable packaging. In addition, software is no longer provided on CD. The next improvements of the environmental management system have already been defined: Maximum reduction of paper consumption and further optimisation of the building's energy balance.
