CORDIS Archive
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Replacing the traditional organic solvents with vegetable-oil-based cleaning products - which are generally biodegradable - would not only reduce environmental degradation but would also have significant benefits for the health of print workers. Subsprint(1) was one of the first technology transfer projects supported by the EU, launched in 1993, and it aimed to encourage the substitution of organic solvents in the printing industry with vegetable cleaning agents (VCAs). Overcoming inertia"The biggest problem was the highly conservative nature of printing companies, which did not want to change the way that they have always worked," says Guido Haesen, project officer in the European Commission's Innovation Directorate. "A number of other factors discouraged change, for example machines which were not designed for use with the new products, or problems arising when excessive quantities of the new VCAs were applied to the presses. "With Subsprint, the aim was to help traditional companies find different ways to successfully introduce the new technology," Haesen emphasises. With partners from across Europe, Subsprint organised a range of training sessions and developed training resources, as well as sharing information throughout its network. One big success in reducing the use of VOCs came in Germany where a voluntary agreement in the German offset printing industry - taking in manufacturers and trade unions as well as print trade associations - was introduced in 1995, and achieved a 50% reduction in solvent emissions in the short term. It also made the target of halving solvent consumption in the print industry realistic. Sharing knowledge"Subsprint has become the case study in Europe and beyond, with the sharing of knowledge on substitution of hazardous solvents now common throughout the industry," according to Haesen. "Creating an environment where tacit and codified knowledge transfer occurs efficiently requires planning, and knowledge transfer takes time." Knowledge transfer is about transferring tacit knowledge - of the facts, processes and organisational components that are vital to effective strategy - from one person to another at the right time. But if the intricacies of the sources and the business logic behind them are not visible, the transfer of this knowledge will ultimately lead to failure in building a knowledge-based enterprise. Because of this, both trust and some kind of ownership are crucial to knowledge transfer. "People will be unwilling to share information if they believe their value to the organisation will be eroded by sharing valuable knowledge assets,"(2) says Professor Lester Thurow of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Building trust"With the accompanying measures(3) launched within the Fifth Research Framework Programme, we aimed to set up a pilot platform to support the sharing of knowledge," says Haesen. "It became clear immediately that the diverse backgrounds of team members and the different business sectors involved made it necessary to define a common language during the design of the platform. Such a common language should streamline the knowledge transfer process by facilitating communication, and by uncovering similarities and differences which may be leveraged in the sharing process. This process has substantially succeeded, although the partners had to overcome significant obstacles before they came to acknowledge fully the importance of trust in the knowledge transfer process." Today, more than ever, firms rely on information and knowledge exchange to facilitate the uptake of new technologies, processes and approaches. Haesen believes that companies aiming for success in the knowledge-based economy "must become learning organisations, focused on efficiently acquiring knowledge from sources such as research - on both technical and non-technical sources - consultants, strategic partnerships with other companies, and the knowledge of their own employees. Protecting investments through patents is a short-term solution, but sharing knowledge is an essential step for organisations to become competitive." (1) See http://www.rrz.uni-hamburg.de/kooperationsstelle-hh/content/arbeitsgebiete/ersatzstoffe/praxis/subsprint/uk/welcome.html
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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT
stimates indicate that offset printers in the European Union use around 100 million litres of organic solvents per year to clean their presses. According to experimental evidence, somewhere between 60 and 90% of these petroleum-based solvents evaporate into the atmosphere, making the printing industry Europe's second biggest industrial emitter of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs in the atmosphere contribute to the thinning of the ozone layer and create smog at ground level; they can also be damaging in soil or water. Print workers inhale organic solvents throughout their work, with the highest exposure levels experienced while cleaning presses. VOCs are known to have harmful effects on lungs, kidneys, liver and skin, and may also affect the nervous system.