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News & Views From the Front Line
Friday, 11 December 2009
The benefits snowball
When I do workshops with either professional or student engineers, I always emphasise the need to take a systems approach to design. If you optimise component by component then you will only get incremental improvements, but if you consider the whole system, you can let benefits accrue like a snowball rolling down a hill. For example if you design a process plant with short, fat, straight pipes to reduce friction, you can reduce the size of pumps required to move things around which cuts both capital and operational costs. Likewise if you design a highly thermal efficient building, you can order a smaller heating system.The same principle applies to your supply chain. Say 60% of your carbon footprint is in the supply chain and 20% from electricity generation and 20% from on-site activities. If you want to cut that footprint by 80% by 2050, it looks like a tall order. But if the supply chain and electricity provider manage to cut their own footprint by, say, 50%, then you're half way there without lifting a finger! So rather than simply trying to optimise your own performance, you may want to directly engage with your supply chain. Walkers Crisps famously found that their suppliers were storing potatoes in a humid environment because Walkers were paying them by wet weight. This not only consumed energy at the warehouses, but it meant that the crisps required more energy to fry (to drive off that water). Now the company buys by dry weight, the humidification systems have been switched off and the frying requires less fuel. Systems thinking = wins all around.
So, always bear the big picture in mind, and allow the benefits to snowball.
Labels: benefits, supply chain, systems thinking
# posted by Gareth Kane : 09:29
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Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Weekly Tip #31: Work with your suppliers
This is the latest of a series of tips extracted from the forthcoming Green Business Bible e-book:Work with your suppliers to match specification to your needs - this can reduce waste and energy consumption at both ends. I have given the example before of Walkers' Crisps who found that their potato suppliers were keeping their product hydrated (requiring energy) which was not only unnecessary but required even more energy to fry than if they had simply done nothing.
Labels: supply chain, tips
# posted by Gareth Kane : 10:36
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Friday, 1 August 2008
Closing the (Paper) Loop
Many of the smaller businesses I have worked with over the years have struggled to get office paper recycled as they just don't produce enough waste to make a collection service worthwhile - a catch 22 position for a company wanting to improve its environmental performance.Well, this week I have been talking to stationery supplier Office Team who will collect your white and coloured paper for £1 a sack when they make their deliveries. The waste paper goes back into the very paper mill that produces their eco-team brand of recycled paper, so if you buy that you could very well be using the same fibres you sent them previously.
Not only is this a genuinely closed loop, but it also maximises the use of the delivery vehicles as 'waste' collection vehicles are not required to pick up the paper, so it is a very efficient use of transport to boot. They also use reuseable/recyclable packing which they take back.
This is an excellent example of how a business is using the environmental agenda to find competitive advantage over the rest of the sector. And a great solution for office based companies to boot.
Labels: green business, paper, supply chain
# posted by Gareth Kane : 07:00
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A highly accessible, practical guide to those who want to introduce sustainability into their business or organization quickly and effectively.
