Earn money for reducing your energy use.

Marketing message experts, driven by global warming fever, are more often linking green with lean. The Association for Operations Management’s annual conference brochure (no link but check out www.apics.org) indicates that “green is the new lean”. It can be if you use lean approaches, concepts and culture change.
Value stream mapping, a lean analysis approach, is used to link wasteful production practices to reduced energy use. Consulting firms and companies have put together excellent lean programs focused on reducing waste which includes energy. But to say that all of “green” is the new lean is to attempt to piggyback an ill-defined …read more

My fascination with how global warming and green messages are being used and abused by companies continues with a brochure advertising The Association for Operations Management’s annual conference (go to www.apics.org for more info). In it they promote a “learning path” called “sustainability/green” (my emphasis provided):
“Green is the new lean. Attend this Learning Path to discover how you can apply green concepts to your daily work. Examine the financial implications of sustainable purchasing. Evaluate models and methodologies for greenhouse gas emissions and “greening” your supply chain. Discuss how to develop a successful and sustainable plan for your company.”
The first time …read more

For those of you who believe that your carbon emissions won’t be tracked, just look at what Manufacturing Business Technology is reporting:
David Simchi-Levi, cofounder of LogicTools and now an ILOG consultant, says companies in the European Union, which has agreed to abide by the Kyoto Protocol for reducing greenhouse gases, already have a financial incentive for deploying tools like the Carbon Footprint Extension.
“Companies that can show their carbon emissions are below the limits [set by the Kyoto Protocol] can sell emission credits on the open market to companies above the limits,” Simchi-Levi says. “The market for those credits was 40 …read more

I’m realizing that I’m a focal point for all things “project” having to do with executing strategies and innovation. In other words, I usually read what I’m interested in on this topic and then pick and choose the best for YOU and put my slant on it. This is my small way of changing things- how about you?
If you like what you see, and many of you have told me so, then that probably means we have the same interests. Hopefully that doesn’t mean that we think alike because that would only lead to boring conclusions.
Blogs are for dialogue and …read more

According to Manufacturing Business Technology (MBT) opposing energy plans are in process and one is preferred by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). Let’s see which one you think NAM favors- is it number 1 or number 2?
1. “includes actions….such as exploring for oil on the nation’s Outer Continental Shelf and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.”
2. “would impose onerous taxes, mandates, and regulations.”
Of course, number 1 is preferred by NAM. Many would say, “oh yeah, big business wants to rape the environment”. We need to grow up and figure out that it is big business that supplies the jobs …read more

European Supply Chain Management magazine’s story about how a Product Life Cycle Management (PLM) system can assist a green strategy reveals some fascinating complications of the green agenda:
There is a tax already in place in the Netherlands based on the carbon footprint of product packaging. The challenge many manufacturers face is not simply adapting to the new demands but also ensuring their product is still safe, effective and profitable.
For products in development, these new pieces of green legislation may cause more than change – they can cause a product to be pulled indefinitely, causing heavy losses. Again PLM can help …read more

CFO continues to cover “green” issues and how companies react to them. The confusion on becoming “green” is borne out of the fact that much of the environmental crisis is trumped up. Companies are beginning to compare the coming regulatory environment to SOX – which was a ridiculous response to some corporate shenanigans:
Companies may have an easier time, however, selling green products and services to customers than becoming green themselves. Martin says that managing Jones Lang LaSalle’s carbon footprint has been “a nightmare…worse than the horrors of Sarbanes-Oxley.” That’s largely because the company’s activities depend heavily on travel and on …read more