Stories
Muhammad Khaled Aminul Hasan, Senior Program Manager (Enterprise Development-Light Engineering), SMART Project, PKSF
The machinery and equipment sub-sector is a vital part of Bangladesh’s industrial base, with steady demand for spare parts, machines, and equipment. Yet micro-enterprises in this space still struggle with outdated, energy-inefficient technology, a shortage of skilled workers, and limited access to finance. The result is poor resource use, high energy consumption, excessive material waste, and weak environmental performance. Under PKSF’s SMART project, Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP) practices offer a practical route to improving both the economic and environmental performance of these enterprises.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) adoption has been one of the most visible interventions. Around 425 of the roughly 1,600 micro-enterprises (MEs) in the cluster, about 27 percent, have now commissioned solar PV systems. These installations are cutting electricity consumption by 10 to 20 percent at the enterprise level, though actual savings depend on system size, load profile, and seasonal sunlight. Beyond cost savings, solar adoption reduces dependence on the national grid and strengthens energy security.
Power Factor Improvement (PFI) plants are delivering similar gains in electrical efficiency. Inductive loads from lathes, milling machines, grinders, and compressors typically pull power factor down to 0.75–0.80. PFI plants raise this to at least 0.95, cutting reactive power losses on the grid while helping enterprises avoid utility penalties and improve voltage stability. Twelve micro-enterprises have adopted PFI plants so far.
Modern manufacturing equipment, including CNC vertical machining centers and CNC lathes, is also reshaping the cluster. These machines produce dies, molds, and spare parts with greater precision, cutting material waste by 15 to 20 percent and improving energy efficiency per unit of output by 10 to 20 percent. They also reduce rejection rates and rework, boosting both productivity and product quality for the 11 micro-enterprises now using them.
In foundries, induction furnaces are replacing conventional ones, cutting energy use by 20 to 30 percent and emissions by 25 to 40 percent, while reducing slag generation by 30 to 50 percent. Better waste management practices are enabling a further 20 to 30 percent reduction in solid waste through recycling and reuse.
Proper handling of metal chips and scrap is another key practice. Segregating chips by type and using manual compactors and mobile trolleys improves recycling efficiency, frees up storage space, and reduces hazards from scattered sharp waste. Foundry slag, once dumped along roadsides and on farmland as a pollution hazard, is now being recycled into blocks, pavement tiles, and other construction materials, turning a waste burden into a circular-economy asset.
Occupational health and safety improvements round out the picture. Clean drinking water, scheduled machine maintenance, clear safety signage, and standardized operating procedures are reducing workplace accidents and supporting compliance with responsible production standards.
Taken together, these interventions show how the SMART project is helping the machinery and equipment sub-sector cut costs, reduce its environmental footprint, and strengthen domestic production capacity in place of imports.
