The energy race as a quality program battleground

In his January 2006 State of the Union speech, America's President, Bush, declared Americans to be 'addicted to oil' and set a laudable forward goal for the USA to become becoming independent of Middle Eastern oil. Is it for real or is it a strategy aimed at something else?

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The energy race as a quality program battleground

Of course it's interesting to hear the politics surrounding the environment and what Mr Bush thinks, but where the article gives me most [energy ] is:

Ask not what your country can do for you…

Whatever nation you work in, you can play your part through your organization quality program focusing on energy reduction and its management. Look inside that organization and ask: how much of the energy we use or cause to be used is an avoidable cost? That is, plan and perform an energy audit.

(The basics of energy audits and energy usage matters are described in the 2nd and 3rd editions of Management Audits - Ref 2. - and I may enlarge further in a later Autoptic article as space precludes a more thorough outline at present.)

Employees' mindset must change now. A good quality program can help. As people in the daily workplace learn about energy management and see the magnitude in avoidable cost reduction, they may take the lesson home. Of course, it may be the other way round as they grapple with rising personal energy costs. Individuals must fight on both fronts: personal and business.

Rightly or wrongly the quality function is often perceived as a cost to the business, so I see this as a real opportunity for the 'quality profession' to make a visible contribution to the bottom line as well as to the greater good of the environment. In manufacturing businesses energy costs are a significant but often ignored cost (tens if not hundreds of thousands of pounds a year) and with the cost of energy rising sharply the imperative to use it wisely is further compounded.

An easy measure (KPI) of energy efficiency can be implemented in your business by dividing the number of kWh's of energy used (which can usually be found on the utility bill) into the number of widgets you produce. This tells you how many kWh of energy it takes to produce a single widget and importantly how much this costs you. With this measure the success of energy efficiency initiatives and the overall programme become more transparent.

In England The Carbon Trust helps business cut energy costs through the provision of free, professional advice and assistance. The programme is funded by DEFRA (The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). This business assistance includes a free environmental assessment of your business. I advise you take it up. I'm sure there will be similar schemes in other countries.

I'm no expert but here are some of the steps you may consider to reduce your energy usage:

- Start a visible energy awareness campaign
- Energy awareness training
- Employee suggestion scheme
- Monitor energy usage on site (you can get daily breakdowns from energy providers)
- Ensure compressed air systems are maintained effectively
- Replace inefficient motors with High Energy Efficiency motors
- Replace lighting with efficient fluorescent lamps (T8's or T5's)
- Use auto on/off lighting controls (photocell / occupancy controls)
- Automatic closing doors

Thanks for another excellent article Allan.

Regards,
Simon

Thank you for your appreciative comment, Simon.

Let me pose this question to fellow "Packers": What do you suggest might be the solutions to reducing the amount of energy consumed:
a) globally.
b) nationally
c) corporately
d) domestically?

All ideas are welcome, as every little saving counts and a lot of savings may eventually slow or reverse some of the damage the silly human race has done to the planet.

Let me pose this question to fellow "Packers": What do you suggest might be the solutions to reducing the amount of energy consumed:
a) globally.
b) nationally
c) corporately
d) domestically?

I don't know about putting the world or my country to rights but at work saving energy, recycling, reusing, using less of everything and getting things 'Right First Time' may help. At home similar things and walking a lot more.

Regards,
Simon