This weblog is a part of our give attention to Cisco workers who’re “Striving for Sustainability” by discovering alternatives to combine sustainability of their day-to-day work.
At Cisco, now we have been specializing in evolving from a linear economic system that extracts sources and finally wastes them, to a round one which finds new makes use of for merchandise and their inputs. By understanding the environmental impacts of our merchandise, we are able to make knowledgeable selections to cut back the sources used and decide easy methods to prolong the lifetime of our merchandise.
That brings us to Sripriya Narayanan, a senior product supervisor based mostly in India who works for Cisco’s Industrial Web of Issues (IIoT) enterprise unit, which focuses on industrial routers, switches, and entry factors. She has collaborated with Cisco’s Round Design workforce to develop a collection of commercial routers with Round Design Ideas on the core. I just lately sat down together with her to be taught extra about her story:
When did your curiosity in sustainability start?
Sripriya: My journey in the direction of sustainability started in my childhood in India, surrounded by my dad and mom and grandparents, who lived what we now name a sustainable way of life. Their strategy was easy: shopping for solely what was obligatory, avoiding plastic, minimizing waste, and embracing a holistic, minimalist way of life. This simplicity deeply influenced me. One other affect is my love for nature and spending time in pure settings. Being in nature taught me the significance of preserving its tranquility and wonder for future generations.
After I moved to the USA after beginning my profession at Cisco, I started volunteering with an environmental nonprofit in San Jose known as Our Metropolis Forest. There, I educated as an arborist and earned a certification in tree planting. On weekends, I led group teams, together with youngsters and fogeys, in tree planting actions throughout Santa Clara County. This expertise sparked my ardour for environmental advocacy.
Are you able to inform us about your skilled and academic journey to this point?
Sripriya: My journey started as a software program engineer at Cisco, the place I progressed to a lead engineer and technical chief. Whereas I loved my work, I spotted that to drive change, I wanted to transition to the enterprise aspect the place selections impacting sustainability had been made. To facilitate this, I pursued an MBA. I selected Berkeley’s Haas Faculty of Enterprise because of its give attention to sustainability and the energetic Web Impression Membership. This membership allowed me to interact with trade influencers and educate my friends, lots of whom had been CEOs or VPs attending night and weekend lessons. Collaborating with these key trade figures was enriching, because it enabled us to collectively promote sustainable practices.
Throughout my second 12 months at Berkeley, I transitioned into product administration at Cisco, a pure development aligning with my objectives. I joined the commercial IoT enterprise unit as a product supervisor, main the commercial routing portfolio. This function entails end-to-end administration, from defining the product to launching it and fascinating with clients in addition to managing its end-of-life. The economic IoT enterprise unit was essential to me, because it allowed direct interplay with trade leaders in sectors like utilities, manufacturing, oil and gasoline, and transportation. The convergence of IT and OT is a spotlight for industries and demanding infrastructure suppliers. Cisco leverages its direct interactions with enterprise leaders to discover the way it can allow greatest practices, together with sustainability, throughout networks from enterprise to trade areas, all whereas sustaining belief and addressing each inside product challenges and exterior components. It was an opportunity to affect sustainability on a bigger scale, fulfilling my ambition to combine circularity practices into the enterprise realm.
How are you incorporating circularity in your function as a product supervisor?
Sripriya: Embracing modular design has develop into crucial, particularly in our industrial IoT enterprise unit, the place clients anticipate long-lasting merchandise, in contrast to the enterprise sector with frequent refresh cycles. Modularizing elements permits for standardization throughout enterprise models, providing flexibility and lowering redesign prices. This strategy additionally aligns with sustainability objectives by minimizing waste and useful resource utilization.
Whereas growing our next-generation merchandise, I prioritized Round Design Ideas. Impressed by sustainability advocates and my very own ardour, I collaborated cross-functionally to combine modular elements and enhance power effectivity for utility shoppers involved with power consumption.
I additionally initiated extra packaging sustainability efforts, eliminating extreme foam and adopting supplies with a decrease environmental influence from manufacturing or finish of life. This was achieved by means of collaboration with Cisco’s packaging sustainability workforce. At this level of my profession, I used to be promoted to a senior product supervisor place and was chosen as a pacesetter to drive sustainability initiatives for our total Industrial IoT enterprise unit.
Seeking to the long run, I’ll proceed to drive sustainability initiatives for Cisco Industrial IoT in partnership with the Chief Sustainability Workplace (CSO) and Engineering Sustainability Workplace (ESO) groups.
What advantages have you ever noticed from implementing Round Design Ideas?
Sripriya: Implementing Round Design Ideas presents quite a few benefits, significantly in extending product lifetimes. Historically, companies targeted on frequent product refreshes to attain their objectives. Nonetheless, by adopting a round design mindset permits us to foster innovation with out the need to launch new merchandise each few years. This shift in perspective just isn’t solely helpful for our firm but additionally resonates throughout numerous industries, together with the enterprise B2B sector.
Round design can assist quicker innovation by constructing on current merchandise fairly than ranging from scratch. This strategy reduces operational prices and capital bills, in addition to greenhouse gasoline (GHG) emissions, by minimizing using pure sources. Moreover, designing merchandise in a modular manner facilitates take-back and reuse, which might cut back monetary pressures on each our clients and our provide chain administration.
From an environmental standpoint, round design reduces waste and enhance power effectivity. Throughout product use, power effectivity is essential. Our collaboration with the CSO workforce on a complete product life cycle evaluation highlighted that almost all of GHG emissions happen through the use section. Due to this fact, integrating energy-efficient options in product design is crucial for lowering emissions.
How are Cisco’s Industrial IoT improvements serving to clients transition to extra round fashions?
Sripriya: It’s important to handle our clients’ present enterprise challenges whereas offering them with straightforward methods to leverage new improvements with out fully changing their current merchandise. Cisco’s Industrial IoT options underscore power effectivity and assist round practices, enhancing sustainability in product administration.
With a round design strategy, we allow our clients to avoid wasting the expense of shopping for fully new gear each time their necessities change, which additionally eliminates the sources and power required to create new gear throughout manufacturing, transport, and logistics. By upgrading or repairing simply the person modules, clients prolong the product’s lifetime, cut back supplies which are disposed of prematurely, and assist preserve sources.
Buyer tales that showcase how Cisco IoT options have helped them with their objectives could be discovered right here.
Do you do something in your private life to advertise circularity? If that’s the case, what recommendation would you give others?
Sripriya: In my private life, I attempt to advertise circularity by adopting a minimalist way of life. This journey started throughout my time in the USA, the place I targeted on buying solely important gadgets and utilizing reusable baggage for grocery buying to keep away from plastic waste. Selecting an electrical or hybrid automobile over a conventional gas-powered car was one other important step that I took, in addition to taking public transportation.
Lately, I relocated to India to be nearer to my household and look after my getting old dad and mom. Right here, I’ve observed important challenges concerning waste administration and environmental consciousness. Whereas there may be rising consciousness about plastic air pollution in some international locations, in India, this understanding is commonly restricted to sure city areas.
Regardless of these challenges, I purpose to affect my group by advocating for easy way of life modifications that cut back consumption and promote accountable dwelling. Encouraging folks to think about the need of their purchases and search higher, extra sustainable choices is vital. It’s about making acutely aware decisions and recognizing that there are at all times alternate options which are higher for the atmosphere.
I additionally consider in main by instance and sharing data with others to encourage them to develop into environmental advocates. By fostering discussions about sustainability, I hope to contribute to a extra accountable and environmentally acutely aware world. These small actions in my day by day life mirror my dedication to selling circularity and inspiring others to do the identical.
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