Lean And Green™
Reduce energy consumption, save $$, shrink your environmental footprint/capture carbon credits and increase shareholder value by going ‘Lean and Green™’. Use the power of Energy Value Stream Mapping™ to identify and eliminate costly energy waste from your processes quickly and with minimal effort.
Combine the power of Lean with controlled energy reduction for a significant impact on your bottom line while reducing your carbon footprint.
What is Lean?
First and foremost Lean is a way of thinking about how information, products and services move through your business processes. The traditional notion of producing and moving in large batches of products or services (information, goods, or paper), is becoming obsolete. The new 'Lean way' of thinking is to keep those work elements moving continually within your system, without stopping, from order to delivery - this is what Lean thinkers call flow. In order to achieve flow, waste must be eliminated from the end-to-end system.
Nine wastes usually represent greater than 45% of the activities within a process. If we consider that most of these wastes consume some type of energy, then Energy is the 10th waste.
The Ten Types of Waste
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Energy Waste
The type of energy waste that can be associated directly with, or as a result of the other 9 wastes is considered non-value added or non-conversion energy waste. These wastes are found inside and outside process activity steps. An example of Energy Waste found outside the process step would be Inventory - we have to store it in lighted areas both on-site and off-site, keep it warm or cool, and transport it within the facility. Another type of Energy Waste occurs directly within a process step and requires more technical analysis. An example of this is a machine or device required to run for 10 mins./hr to modify (add value) to a product or service and we find that it is running constantly. Perhaps the machine's capacity is more than is required to complete the task thus consuming more energy than necessary. The challenge is to change our way of thinking not only about how we flow goods and services through our business but how we use (or misuse) energy to produce the product or service.
Energy Value Stream Mapping
Until now, reduced energy consumption has been a by-product of Lean waste elimination and we have not had a vehicle with which to capture the energy waste or to quantify it. The tool we now use is Energy Value Stream Mapping (EnVSM™). EnVSM™ creates a practical representation of the Value Stream for visualizing the wastes, including energy, in the processes. From the drawing and analysis of the EnVSM™, a comprehensive Future State and Implementation Plan is created with measurable improvements identified.
Energy Value Stream Mapping is part of Enterprise Value Stream Mapping. In simplified form EVSM™ follows a work unit through a process capturing both the value and non-value added activity within that process and creates a metric showing actual processing time and the time that the work unit spends (the lead time) going through the Value Stream. Lead-time is typically measured in days or weeks and processing time is measured in minutes or hours. EnVSM™ follows a product through a process capturing the energy consumption both the process energy and the energy used outside the process activities. Once those metrics are in place we can then create a plan to systematically remove the EW from the process without affecting the way the product or service is produced and without purchasing any new equipment.
Lean and Green™ Benefits
Total Energy Waste will be identified and reduced systematically through an Energy Reduction Plan. The key to a successful implementation is to reduce or eliminate the waste without affecting the way the product is made or the service delivered. Technical solutions should be planned and implemented through structured 'kaizen' events in the same way Lean kaizen events are executed.
Additional impacts of Energy Waste elimination can take other, less obvious forms such as lowering emissions and hazardous waste. The key is to focus on Energy Waste elimination specifically and other environmental impacts will be identified and resolved as a result of eliminating/reducing Energy Waste.
The reduction in energy consumption will save significant bottom-line dollars year over year and reduce the carbon footprint of the facility while improving your responsive to clients/customers making you more competitive. In addition, experts can convert the energy saved into tons of CO2 emissions that can be traded on various exchanges.
Becoming Lean and Green™ is a Win-Win - improves your business/creates wealth, plus decreases the demand for natural resources.
Case Study Highlights
A medium sized manufacturing facility recently implemented Lean resulting in a substantial reduction in Energy Waste. They are now saving over $150,000 per year in energy costs and over 1,000 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions per year as a result of going Lean and Green™.
Savings:
- A reduction of 8 electric forklifts, saving about $35,000 per year
- A reduction of thousands of feet of conveyor, saving over $50,000 per year
- A reduction of 15,000 square feet of warehouse space, saving heat and $5,000/yr for lighting
- A reduction of production area, saving heat and $10,000/yr for lighting
Identifying and eliminating Energy Wastes through additional Lean and Green™ implementation will help them further reduce their carbon emissions and add to their bottom line. They have and will continue to position themselves as a progressive, efficient and socially conscious organization - which in these times is what the market is looking for!
DO YOU QUALIFY FOR GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS THAT CAN HELP YOU REAP THE BENEFITS OF IMPLEMENTING LEAN, LEAN AND GREEN™, OR JUST GREEN.
Government pressure on manufacturers to reduce Greenhouse Gases and other toxins comes at a time when many companies are struggling for their very existence.
The will to improve the environment is not the problem. Proven tools like Lean and Green™ can both, reduce cost of production and have a dramatic, positive impact on the environment. The payback from even a modest investment in Lean and Green™ is measured in days and weeks--but even this cost can be a deterrent.
Federal and provincial governments are desperately trying to preserve the country’s manufacturing base and have created funding assistance for Small/Medium Enterprises (SME)--particularly the Province of Ontario. They are offering funding ($$) for companies wanting to transform using Lean and/or Green concepts to become globally competitive.
YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR GOVERNMENT FUNDING THAT CAN BE USED TO BRING Lean and Green™ THINKING AND TOOLS INTO YOUR WORKPLACE.
Below is a short summary of a few of these programs. For a full discussion of opportunities and to get assistance in applying, if required, please contact Lean Advisors Inc., at (613) 821-4545.
YVES LANDRY FOUNDATION
- Ontario companies
- Must have 15-1500 employees
- 3 years in business
- Facilities located in Ontario
- Grants of up to $50,000 for training
Objective #1: Training that will support technology, new processes, supports innovation.
Objective #2: Training that will support Highly Skilled Personnel
APPLICATION:
- Preliminary application with 1-2 day feedback
- Full proposal with 8-10 day approval
CME SMART PROGRAM
- Project funding at 50% or $50,000 whichever is less
- No more than 500 employees world wide
- 2 years of operation
- Eligible facilities must have10-200 employees
- Only one proposal per facility
APPLICATION:
- On-Line application (see web)
- Decision in less than 45 days
- Need reference to speed up selection (IRAP, Ontario Center of Excellence and Ministry of Small Business& Consumer Services).
CME SMART ON-SITE ASSESSMENT PROGRAM (Availability promised by end of November)
- Must focus on one area of business improvement
- 250 SMART ASSESSMENTS will be available in Ontario
- CME will post a list of qualified service providers
- Assessments to cost $7000. CME will pay $6000, company pays $1000 plus expenses.