_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ whole value chain becomes even more important to ensure we address both social and environmental challenges,” says Reuben. That partnership approach sits at the heart of JLR’ s net-zero ambition, with low carbon materials, lightweighting and climate targets embedded directly into sourcing processes.“ Our procurement team work with suppliers to secure sustainable materials during sourcing which means we can build it into the product as it’ s developed.
“ Rather than traditional supplier / client relationships, we’ re really working closely together on problem statements so we can push towards our shared goals and truly explore the limits of what is possible. Working this way provides a real opportunity for new technical breakthroughs and industry firsts,” he says.
JLR’ s Circularity Lab brings together crossfunctional teams and external partners to overcome barriers to reuse and recycling, feeding data directly into early vehicle
development decisions to test the feasibility of returning materials such as glass, steel, aluminum, and polymers back into production.
Reuben reveals that JLR has been able to take this a step further with a new initiative, named Project Cornerstone, which translates insights and advancements from the Circularity Lab into physical product solutions.“ Our design, engineering and sustainability teams have worked collaboratively with 40 supplier partners to co-engineer 49 more sustainable automotive components and integrate them into a physical demonstrator vehicle. The aim is to establish clear pathways to convert insights and breakthroughs from the lab into production ready solutions that can be delivered onto future vehicles,” he says.
Those partnerships are already delivering tangible results – Reuben offers some examples. He details a fully working front seat, which JLR developed alongside Adient, supported by several other material / supply chain partners( Dow, Borealis, Ineos, Luxus
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