Energy Conservation

Being Green: The New Business Imperative

When it comes to energy costs, the global recession and subsequent decline in demand for petroleum, natural gas and electricity has given everyone a reprieve. It's only temporary. When global markets rebound, so will demand for these finite resources. And we'll be right back to rising prices and volatile energy costs.

The manufacturing sector accounts for a third of energy consumption in the United States. Manufacturers use natural gas and petroleum-based energy to run their machinery and plants, as an ingredient in finished goods and packaging, and to transport their products to market. In most companies 20 percent or more of the natural resource that they consume - electricity, water, gas, fuel and byproducts such as steam and compressed air - are wasted. Using familiar Lean and Six Sigma tools, manufacturers can cut significant energy costs and consumption of natural resources.

But it's not all about containing costs. Because manufacturing plants – especially 24/7 continuous process operations – can be such intense energy users, reducing consumption by even a few percentage points can have a huge environmental impact. Working with our clients, TBM's Energy practice has found that Lean Sigma Energy Kaizens frequently engage employees more strongly than any other improvement initiative. Not only are they working to reduce the company's utility bills, but they're doing their part to reduce the country's dependency on foreign oil, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and save the planet.

Sources of Electricity Waste on a Production Line

 

Energy Waste

TBM's Energy practice helps you use Lean and Six Sigma tools to optimize energy investment and eliminate energy waste, and do it quickly. A five-day Energy Kaizen is a team-based week of action and rapid improvement. We map resource flow, identify major sources of waste and immediately begin to generate dramatic improvements in your energy productivity. The implications for both your bottom line and competitive position include:

  • Reduced operating and maintenance costs
  • Reduced vulnerability to volatile energy costs
  • Safer operations and improved employee morale and commitment
  • Reduced greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint.

Improvement teams in energy-intensive continuous process manufacturers have been able to reduce annual utility costs by $200,000 to $500,000. During the course of one week-long event, a TBM Energy client grappled with a sudden rise in water usage and machine maintenance issues. The team discovered that 850 of 5,000 steam traps were broken. Each broken trap cost the company $1,200 in wasted energy. Fixing and maintaining the steam traps generated annual savings of over $1 million.

Conserving natural resources and eliminating energy waste have always been core TBM values. Let us share what our years of “green” experience have taught us.

To learn more about Energy Conservation, check out the following articles:

Getting Started: Death to Leaks

Lean Energy Kaizen projects begin by identifying the sources of energy in the plant. In addition to excess usage of electricity and other energy sources, small natural gas, compressed air, steam, and water leaks, can cost a factory hundreds of thousands of dollars per year:
Gas and compressed air – Fixing leaks can return immediate and substantial savings. One TBM client saved $300,000 in one year by finding and repairing 400 air leaks. After fixing the leaks, they found they could stop using two compressors (450 HP and 200 HP) that used to run across three shifts.
Steam – Undetected steam leaks are extremely expensive, as are un-insulated pipes and valves in steam systems. Fixing steam leaks dramatically reduces energy waste.
Water – Spillage from systems that use or supply heated water, such as boilers, is common. As with compressed air, water often is misused or overused in both the manufacturing processes and the sanitation routines associated with them.
Electrical equipment – Monitoring and documenting energy consumption of equipment discloses how efficiently the equipment is running. It is important to understand why the equipment is being used and if the equipment itself is masking an inefficient process.
Vehicle fuel – The most effective way to reduce vehicle fuel costs is to reduce the need for transportation and material handling. Strategies such as cross-docking and consolidating shipments can reduce “touches.” Inside the plant, keeping inventories as lean as possible reduces the need for material handling equipment, as can having supplies delivered directly to the production line rather than a warehouse.