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, we’ve got been specializing in evolving from a linear financial system that extracts assets and ultimately 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 will make knowledgeable selections to scale back the assets used and decide the right way to lengthen the lifetime of our merchandise.
That brings us to Sripriya Narayanan, a senior product supervisor primarily based 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 group to develop a sequence of business routers with Round Design Ideas on the core. I lately sat down along with her to be taught extra about her story:
When did your curiosity in sustainability start?
Sripriya: My journey in 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 mandatory, 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.
Once I moved to america after beginning my profession at Cisco, I started volunteering with an environmental nonprofit in San Jose referred to as Our Metropolis Forest. There, I skilled as an arborist and earned a certification in tree planting. On weekends, I led group teams, together with kids 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 up to now?
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 resulting from its give attention to sustainability and the energetic Web Influence Membership. This membership allowed me to have interaction with trade influencers and educate my friends, lots of whom had been CEOs or VPs attending night and weekend courses. 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 targets. I joined the economic IoT enterprise unit as a product supervisor, main the economic routing portfolio. This position entails end-to-end administration, from defining the product to launching it and fascinating with prospects in addition to managing its end-of-life. The commercial IoT enterprise unit was essential to me, because it allowed direct interplay with trade leaders in sectors like utilities, manufacturing, oil and fuel, and transportation. The convergence of IT and OT is a spotlight for industries and significant infrastructure suppliers. Cisco leverages its direct interactions with enterprise leaders to discover the way it can allow finest practices, together with sustainability, throughout networks from enterprise to trade areas, all whereas sustaining belief and addressing each inside product challenges and exterior elements. 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 position as a product supervisor?
Sripriya: Embracing modular design has turn into crucial, particularly in our industrial IoT enterprise unit, the place prospects count on long-lasting merchandise, in contrast to the enterprise sector with frequent refresh cycles. Modularizing elements permits for standardization throughout enterprise items, providing flexibility and lowering redesign prices. This strategy additionally aligns with sustainability targets by minimizing waste and useful resource utilization.
Whereas creating 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 purchasers 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 way of collaboration with Cisco’s packaging sustainability group. 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.
Trying 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 provides quite a few benefits, significantly in extending product lifetimes. Historically, companies targeted on frequent product refreshes to realize their targets. 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 useful for our firm but additionally resonates throughout numerous industries, together with the enterprise B2B sector.
Round design can assist quicker innovation by constructing on present merchandise slightly than ranging from scratch. This strategy reduces operational prices and capital bills, in addition to greenhouse fuel (GHG) emissions, by minimizing the usage of pure assets. Moreover, designing merchandise in a modular means facilitates take-back and reuse, which might cut back monetary pressures on each our prospects 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 group 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 important for lowering emissions.
How are Cisco’s Industrial IoT improvements serving to prospects transition to extra round fashions?
Sripriya: It’s important to deal with our prospects’ present enterprise challenges whereas offering them with straightforward methods to leverage new improvements with out fully changing their present 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 prospects to avoid wasting the expense of shopping for fully new tools each time their necessities change, which additionally eliminates the assets and power required to create new tools throughout manufacturing, transport, and logistics. By upgrading or repairing simply the person modules, prospects lengthen the product’s lifetime, cut back supplies which are disposed of prematurely, and assist preserve assets.
Buyer tales that showcase how Cisco IoT options have helped them with their targets may be discovered right here.
Do you do something in your private life to advertise circularity? In that case, what recommendation would you give others?
Sripriya: In my private life, I try to advertise circularity by adopting a minimalist way of life. This journey started throughout my time in america, the place I targeted on buying solely important gadgets and utilizing reusable luggage for grocery buying to keep away from plastic waste. Selecting an electrical or hybrid automobile over a conventional gas-powered automobile was one other important step that I took, in addition to taking public transportation.
Not too long ago, I relocated to India to be nearer to my household and take care of my ageing dad and mom. Right here, I’ve observed important challenges concerning waste administration and environmental consciousness. Whereas there’s 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 adjustments 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 aware selections and recognizing that there are at all times options which are higher for the surroundings.
I additionally consider in main by instance and sharing data with others to encourage them to turn into environmental advocates. By fostering discussions about sustainability, I hope to contribute to a extra accountable and environmentally aware world. These small actions in my day by day life replicate my dedication to selling circularity and inspiring others to do the identical.
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