Carbon Footprint and Energy Cost Reduction

We are all aware that many scientific experts rank the continued burning of fossil fuels for business and human activity as the most serious threat facing mankind over the next few decades. Whatever the specific link between carbon emissions and global warming, it is sufficient that both national governments, spurred on by international consensus and resolve are about to significantly shift the cost assumptions of all businesses- beginning in 2010.

The United Nations through the Kyoto Protocol framework has imposed mandatory limits on the use of fossil fuels. A significant aspect of the Kyoto Protocols is energy efficiency improvement and waste reduction. A whole series of penalties and incentives- including Carbon Trading, in which more efficient companies can convert their green credentials into cash- will have transformed thinking in businesses within the next two to three years.

Lean and green are no longer contradictory imperatives and environmental awareness is no longer about tree hugging; the Forward Vision Carbon Footprint programme puts emphasis squarely on the financials: driving down the consumption and cost of energy and treating existing and forthcoming legislation as opportunities to improve the bottom line. Forward Vision is able to assist business organisations improve energy efficient through a tailor-made energy management programme comprising one or more of the following.

Using Lean Disciplines and VSM to Identify Energy Wastage Plant-wide

While having an understanding of the organisation's carbon footprint is a vital first step in energy management, it is essential that a business understand the full complexity of its energy use and its impact on the product supply chain.

There is considerable synergy between Lean disciplines and the demands of any carbon reduction programme. Alternative energy sources and innovative approaches to reducing the consumption of fuel are part of the equation, but taking a long hard look at our whole business, to examine how well we can satisfy the Quality and Delivery needs of customers at total lowest cost- by eliminating waste throughout the process- can often make by far the biggest contribution both to our bottom line and to reducing our Carbon Footprint. Forthcoming legislation and international agreements have made the case for lean as never before.

Forward Vision use Value Stream Mapping, an essential item in the Lean toolbox, to analyse energy use across the supply chain. Forward Vision's unique approach to VSM not only puts greater emphasis on fuel consumption but especially harnesses the contribution of the business's own project team. After coaching in Lean Thinking and VSM techniques, the team can unlock and quantify all of the classic wastes inherent in their business. The team is then challenged to design a new supply chain process that will result in substantial energy reduction. Ownership of the findings, costed opportunities and resulting action plan enable commitment to change and a much more sustainable outcome.