Making sustainability a key element in Hiab’s product design

As a leader in smart and sustainable load handling, Hiab is dedicated to building a better tomorrow. Among other things, this means that we fundamentally change the way we design and develop new products.

Hiab’s newly confirmed, science-based climate targets push us to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions throughout our value chain by 2050. Before that, our goal is to reach a 25 percent emission reduction by 2030, compared to our base year of 2022. In our own operations, we aim for a 50 percent reduction by 2030 and 90 percent by 2040. At the same time, we will further develop our circular business models.

“These targets provide a science-based path to reducing the emissions linked to our business,” says Johanna Pirinen, Vice President Sustainability at Hiab. “We turn our ambition into action in many ways, and product design may be one of the most impactful measures to do this. Smart design means we can make informed decisions on how to mitigate emissions throughout the life cycle of our equipment: in material sourcing, equipment use phase and end-of-life. And it also helps us see opportunities for improving circularity.”

To learn more about smart and sustainable product design, we spoke with Johanna Högosta, our Sustainable Offering Manager.

 

New approach to product design

Hiab has been developing more sustainable solutions in its eco portfolio since 2017. These solutions have included low-emission equipment, innovative energy-efficiency features and numerous services that keep the equipment in use for longer. Nevertheless, our design process has often focused on performance and affordability, with sustainability addressed as an afterthought. Now, we're embedding these considerations from the start. "The focus is on embedding sustainability into the process from the very beginning to drive meaningful change," Johanna Högosta explains.

She compares this new approach to planning a healthy recipe before you start cooking, starting with fresh ingredients. By making sustainability a core part of the design process, we prevent wasted effort and optimise the entire product lifecycle from the outset. This means that our design teams need to ask critical questions: "How can we make it last longer, produce less waste and contribute to a circular economy?"

This new mindset leads to conscious decisions about:

• Material selection: Choosing recycled or low-impact materials.
• Energy efficiency: Designing products that use less energy.
• Longevity and durability: Making products robust and easy to repair.
• Modularity: Allowing parts to be replaced without discarding the entire product.
• End-of-life planning: Ensuring products can be disassembled and recycled.

 

Hiab’s eco portfolio showcasing sustainable innovation

Our new design approach is key to accelerating the growth of our eco portfolio.

The eco portfolio is split into two main categories:

• Climate solutions: These solutions consist of equipment that cuts emissions by at least 25% compared to conventional alternatives. The reduction is verified by a third-party life cycle assessment (LCA), a systematic method for evaluating a product’s environmental impact from raw material extraction to disposal.
• Circular solutions: These services, like repair, reuse, and remanufacturing, extend the lifetime of our equipment, keeping resources in use for as long as possible.

We also offer more sustainable equipment that shows measurable improvements but don’t yet meet the 25% emission reduction threshold for the eco portfolio. This tiered approach acknowledges that every step towards sustainability is a valuable part of our journey.

 

Business value beyond environmental gains

Prioritising sustainability offers significant business value. It leads to cost savings through lower energy use and material efficiency, and it sparks new ideas and business models.

Customers are increasingly willing to pay for products with verifiably low life-cycle emissions to meet their own targets and regulatory requirements. As Högosta puts it, "It's not just greener, it's also smarter business." Companies that consider emissions across the full life cycle often end up being leaner, more innovative, and more competitive.

A great example of this is a project where we considered replacing steel with lighter aluminium to reduce emissions in the customer use phase. Since aluminium has an emission factor four times higher than steel, the change would have increased manufacturing emissions. We solved the challenge by sourcing recycled aluminium, which did not negatively impact manufacturing emissions.

Högosta is optimistic about the future. She has seen Hiab’s commitment to sustainability evolve across the organisation since she joined Hiab in 2021 and is excited to see what new, innovative ideas will be developed with this new concept.

At Hiab, we believe this change in our new product development process will be a key driver as we continue to be the industry leader in providing sustainable solutions.