Unlock 20-30% of hidden efficiency opportunities across your supply chain
Developed at the University of Cambridge, Sustain 8 regularly delivers an average 28% improvement in 12 months, without major capital investment.
Join a growing cohort of manufacturers learning the Cambridge program
Factories Optimised
35+
Average Improvement Achieved
28%
Annual Value Captured to Date
$9M+
Carbon Removed from Supply Chains
From strategy to factory floor: realising sustainability ambitions
Sustainability strategies often stall between the boardroom and the factory floor.
Centrally imposed targets rarely deliver expected operational impact—a persistent challenge for organisations striving to achieve sustainable change.
Brand leader:
“We have ambitious sustainability targets, but suppliers are not converting them into timely impact in their factories.”
Factory manager:
“Sustainability is another call on my time, is costly, and I cannot prioritise it.”
Factory worker:
“I see opportunities to reduce waste every day, but I have no way to act on them.”
Sustain 8 bridges the strategy to impact gap across your global footprint.
- Aligning business priorities and sustainability opportunities
- Releasing management time by moving responsibility for acting to the wider workforce
- Focusing on actions that are low cost and fast to implement.
The result is prioritisation alignment, capacity and capability building and activation of new resources across the whole factory.
Case studies: measurable gains without major CAPEX
Sustain 8 is designed to deliver improvement through workforce motivation, data-driven insights and behavioural change, not capital expenditure. Below are examples of three case studies, more detailed examples are available on request.
“Since working with IfM, everything we implemented has been continued. Shop floor workers now own the energy-saving culture. Some team members have now moved to other factories and are implementing these ideas in these factories. So, the ideas and what we have learnt are spreading. We’re working together effectively and committed to bringing our customers tea that has a minimal impact on the environment.”
Chris Ballard, Technical Director, Eastern Produce Kenya part of Camellia Plc
A structured, research-driven methodology: The Sustain 8 roadmap
Sustain 8 is built on a structured 8-step methodology developed through applied research in industrial environments. It combines rigorous data practices with proven behavioural science to drive sustained operational change.
Developed at the University of Cambridge
Sustain 8 is a practical programme that has been successfully deployed across multiple factories, sectors and countries. It was carefully designed using input from three very different sources, helping organisations to align business priorities with sustainability opportunities.
Gary Punter – 35 years of global factory design and transformation experience
Professor Steve Evans – Global leader in sustainable manufacturing research
Ian Bamford – Entrepreneur and specialist in business transformation
The outcome is a practical and repeatable system for delivering measurable results across operationally complex factory environments.
Built on applied research in industrial sustainability
Grounded in behavioural science and organisational change principles
Tested across multiple factory environments
Focused on measurable operational outcomes
Unlocking impact beyond individual factories
Sustain 8 works with brands and industry groups to transfer knowledge to internal teams so that they can become change agents. This enables organisations to scale the programme cost-effectively across their supply chains without becoming dependent upon Cambridge resources.
For factories:
Builds competence and capability, ensuring that the method continues to be applied after the initial programme ends.
For brands:
Creates capacity and leadership, enabling organisations to develop an autonomously scalable programme.
The improvements in energy, rework and water significantly exceeded my expectations but what is really exciting is the change in the people and teams. They are confident, ready to challenge me to do more and go further, they can communicate and make change happen themselves.
CEO, High tech metal finishing company, Italy
Since working with Cambridge, the changes have been sustained. Shop floor teams now own the energy-saving culture, and practices are spreading to other factories as people move roles.
Chris Ballard, Technical Director, Eastern Produce Kenya
Explore how Sustain 8 enables measurable sustainability improvements across complex manufacturing networks, without relying on capital-intensive transformation.
Ian Bamford
Commercial Director, Centre for Industrial Sustainability