The United States Environmental Protection Agency has developed a series of guides, tool kits and case studies that show the links between lean systems and environmental sustainability improvements. It recognises that companies that can deliver products and services with fewer environmental impacts have the potential to capture significant competitive advantage, provided that there are not sacrifices in time, quality, or cost. In many markets products with superior environmental performance … [Read more...]
Lockheed Martin hazardous waste management
Lockheed Martin identified a significant amount of unused chemicals going directly to the hazardous waste stream without ever being used, when they expired on-shelf, or when they were no longer needed for research or production. Lockheed Martin moved to a just-in-time chemical management system, with chemicals delivered three times a week in “right-sized” containers to meet real-time demand. At one site they achieved: chemical inventories were dramatically reduced, freeing capital tied up in … [Read more...]
Right sized equipment
Apollo Hardwoods was established using lean princples. They invested in developing “right sized” equipment which used less energy, fitted into small production cells, and allowed them to fabricate the same amount of finished product using fewer logs and generating less wood scrap. See http://www.epa.gov/lean/environment/studies/apollo.htm … [Read more...]
Rejuventation environmental management system
Rejuvenation (USA) a manufacturer of period-authentic reproduction lighting and hardware used an environmental management system based on The Natural Step and Lean manufacturing. Rejuvenation has reduced its environmental wastes and increased quality and profit. Prior to Lean implementation finished products were not inspected until the end of the line at a quality control center requiring expensive rework when mistakes were found. Through their Lean systems the quality control center was … [Read more...]
