Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1496178
20 SMT007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2023 As a kid, I loved "The Flintstones" cartoon series. Recently, I watched some of the old shows and as I listened to the dialogue, I saw how our social landscape has changed significantly, except for one character, "Bamm- Bamm Rubble." Pounding things with a club, like Bamm- Bamm, appears to be the enduring default approach of our sustainability and recycling industries, yet I believe a business opportunity exists in the form of reverse manufacturing where EMS companies and others can potentially double the scale of their activities Manufacturing: Meet the Flintstones and value in an area that appears to be locked into the Stone Age. A very significant example is the recycling of car batteries from modern electric vehicles. I was amazed to discover that these are currently shredded in the same way we would shred limbs of overgrown trees in our gardens to make sawdust. The whole battery pack is simply put into a massive shredder. When cells are not completely or properly discharged, there are frequent fires and explosions. Following this, only about 30% of the core minerals and materials can be recovered through a series of Smart Factory Insights Feature Column by Michael Ford, AEGIS SOFTWARE