GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – To drive the global chemical industry on a path to net-zero emissions by 2050, the Low-Carbon Emitting Technologies (LCET) initiative, incubated and hosted by the World Economic Forum for more than three years, has now officially launched as the independent Global Impact Coalition.

With a suite of leading-edge projects, the CEO-led coalition, founded by BASF, SABIC, Covestro, Clariant, LyondellBasell, the Mitsubishi Chemical Group, and Solvay will focus on accelerating the development and upscaling of low-carbon emitting technologies for chemical production and related value chains. With a focus on innovation, partnerships, and the development of net-zero production methods, the new Coalition can make an important contribution to carbon neutrality and sustainable growth.

“After over three years of incubation within the World Economic Forum and led by tangible results in the decarbonization space, we are delighted to witness the Global Impact Coalition emerge as an independent legal entity,” said Børge Brende, President, World Economic Forum. “We are dedicated to nurturing our strong relationship, bolstering sustainability and innovation within the chemicals sector.”

Leading Demonstration Projects

The Coalition will incubate projects with a proven approach pioneered by the LCET. Example projects coming from Coalition member companies:

The R&D Hub for Plastic Waste Processing - which will focus on developing new technologies for waste processing with a lower CO2 footprint and greater levels of plastic waste recycling.

Electrically Heated Steam Cracker Furnace - collaboration to construct the world’s first demonstration plant for large-scale electrically heated steam cracker furnaces.

Marking a milestone

The Coalition is a collaboration of incubation of low carbon emittance technologies in the chemical industry, supported by an expert community of more than seventy senior chemical industry executives. Its transition from a World Economic Forum initiative into the new, independent Coalition marks an important milestone and has been made possible by its founders.

“I see immense potential in reshaping the chemical industry's impact on our planet. One of our goals is in forging new pathways to achieve this, through collaboration, business model transformation, and solid partnerships that create true value in our drive to a net zero future. I am extremely excited to lead the charge, focused on less talk, more results”, said Charlie Tan, Global Impact Coalition’s Chief Executive Officer.

At the cornerstone of the global economy, the chemical industry provides essential materials, technologies and building blocks for 95% of all manufactured goods. As a crucial part of almost all sectors, sourcing and using alternative and sustainable sources of carbon will have an important impact in the fight against climate change.

TAIPEI – On November 23, Foxconn Industrial Internet (601138: SH) officially released the first "Industrial Fortune SDGs Strategy White Paper", announcing that it responded to the United Nations' Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, incorporated SDGs into the company's development strategy, and explicitly proposed SDG "3C Response Strategies" with Industrial Fortune's characteristics as well as 16 action objectives, drawing up a blueprint for the comprehensive advancement of sustainable development work.

Zheng Hongmeng, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Sustainable Development Committee of Foxconn Industrial Internet, expressed that, "Foxconn Industrial Internet attaches great importance to sustainable development, and while adhering to the 'EPS+ESG' sustainable management formula, the company will further focus on SDGs in the future, as an important part of the strategy of 'deeply cultivating in China, laying out the global', and maximize the response to the Agenda 2030."

In 2015, all United Nations Member States unanimously adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which contains 17 goals and 169 specific actions to address climate change, reduce inequality, eradicate poverty, etc., and covers various aspects of the economy, society, and the environment, i.e. the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2023, at the midpoint of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, Foxconn Industrial Internet officially launched the SDG Response Initiative, aiming to utilize its corporate strengths to focus on and solve social development issues, while creating new business value. In the white paper, Foxconn Industrial Internet disclosed for the first time its SDG "3C Response Strategy". Specifically, it is supposed to creat corporate competitiveness, assist industrial transformation and upgrading, and promote social prosperity and win-win situation, fully taking into account the company's development strategic plan. This strategy takes into full consideration the company's strategic development plan, core competitiveness and the sustainable development needs of the locations where it operates. In order to effectively implement the SDG "3C Response Strategy", the company has further put forward "9 visions, 16 action goals and 30 specific indicators" to carry out SDG actions in a targeted manner, focusing limited resources on the SDG goals most relevant to the company's operational activities and value chain. SDG targets, and maximize its contribution to global sustainable development while realizing its own growth.

As a leading enterprise in intelligent manufacturing, the operation and development concepts of Foxconn Industrial Internet in dual-carbon practice, scientific and technological innovation, employment promotion, employee care, safe production, and social activities are highly compatible with the United Nations's SDGs, and Foxconn Industrial Internet has been encouraging all units to actively carry out sustainable development practices.

In terms of green and low carbon, Foxconn Industrial Internet actively responds to the national "dual-carbon" strategy and clearly puts forward carbon neutral action targets and specific plans, committing to reduce operational carbon emissions by 80% by 2030 compared with the base year of 2020, achieve operational carbon neutrality by 2035, and realize net-zero emissions in the value chain by 2050; by 2022, Foxconn Industrial Internet will achieve an annual carbon reduction of 15 percent; and by 2020, Foxconn Industrial Internet will achieve an annual carbon reduction of 15 percent. IFE has achieved an annual carbon reduction of 153,000tCO2e, a gramatic 300% year-on-year increase in emission reduction; at present, IFE has built 12 green factories across the country, of which 7 are national and 5 provincial and municipal, and the number will increase to 16 by 2025, and plans to achieve green factory certification for 100% of its key carbon-emitting units by 2030.

From the perspective of digital transformation and sustainable industry, Foxconn Industrial Internet is deeply committed to the digital economy industry, providing more green transformation solutions for the society through technological innovation, and helping to build an inclusive and sustainable industry. For five consecutive years, it has been selected as a national "double span" platform, and has empowered the creation of six world-class lighthouse factories and more than 30 smart factories, serving more than 1,500 digitally transformed enterprises, continuing to polish the new competitive advantage for the high-quality development of China's manufacturing industry, and helping the industry's digital transformation.

In terms of employee care, with nearly 200,000 employees globally, Foxconn Industrial Internet adheres to the principle of people-oriented and insists on advocating a workplace culture of diversity, equality, and integration; creates a healthy workplace through the establishment of a sound employee health management system, with the Employee Mental Health Program covering 100% of the domestic and overseas factories by 2030; and continues to provide a major disease relief program and assistance in medical treatment for diseases, with 100% coverage for both domestic and overseas.

POOLE, UK – Cursey Technology has customers in several challenging electronics sectors that demand exceptional manufacturing precision and quality. Looking to improve productivity, the new management team assessed the market’s surface-mount assembly solutions and chose Europlacer to assist with its expansion and investment plans.

Until that point, the company had been running two legacy surface mount lines. What the firm needed was a solution that would increase efficiency and output. Europlacer was able to deliver a single surface mount line with the ability to exceed the productivity of Cursey’s current operations. Europlacer became the favored candidate after equipment demonstrations, site visits and benchmark comparison tests. The initial incentive to evaluate Europlacer’s equipment came via a recommendation from an existing Europlacer customer.

Within weeks, the CEM was operating productively at five to six times the combined run rate of the two legacy lines, with just a single operator on the new Europlacer line.

“It was a massive learning curve for us,” says Paul Barnett, Managing Director of Cursey Technology. “The speed of the line is immense in comparison to our old lines. We have one board in particular where assembling 500 units would take several days, and sometimes a whole week. Now we run a batch of 500 of those boards in a few hours! It’s excellent news for the company.”

Production Manager Dan Weaver explained the benefit to the shop floor. “For me, it’s now far easier to manage the company’s production. We’ve doubled our job run rate and reduced the assembly time by between 50% and 75%,” he says. “So we are now able to work some three weeks further ahead than before and can plan in the tougher jobs with ease.”

The underlying objective for the Cursey Technology investment was to create greater flexibility for its existing customers and expand the range of work that the company can handle for those customers, while also providing the business with the capacity to take on more projects and complex designs that the previous lines couldn’t support.

“We succeeded in hitting that goal,” says Paul Barnett. “So yes, we’re talking to our existing customers and proposing assembly projects to prospects in industries including medical, aerospace, solar energy and EV technology.”

Paul Barnett believes that the productivity of the new Europlacer SMT line puts Cursey Technology in a solid position to move forward with greater business opportunities.

TAIPEI, TAIWAN – Test Research, Inc. (TRI), the industry's leading provider of Test and Inspection systems for the electronics manufacturing industry, is pleased to announce the expansion of its Malaysian office, which opened in 2010. This move demonstrates the company's ongoing commitment to providing high-quality services to its regional clients.

The expanded office will enable TRI to better serve the region's growing client needs and to strengthen its presence in Malaysia. More resources will be available to support the company's ongoing efforts to provide innovative test and inspection solutions and exceptional customer service.

"We are thrilled to be expanding our presence in Malaysia and providing even more assistance to our clients in the region," said Jerry Hsu, South East Asia Regional Manager of TRI. "This expansion is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team in Malaysia, and we are proud to be able to continue our commitment to delivering the best possible service to our customers."

TRI's Test and Inspection solutions range from Optical Inspection to Board Testing. These innovations optimize the electronics manufacturing production through AI-powered algorithms, precise metrology, smart programming, multiple sensing technologies, real-time SPC trends, and M2M communications. TRI's solutions comply with Industry 4.0 standards, such as the IPC-Hermes-9852, the IPC-DPMX, and the Connected Factory Exchange (IPC-CFX).