Lean manufacturing and energy efficiency

Reducing waste in all its forms (inventory, downtime, leaks, paperwork etc) through lean manufacturing, coupled with energy saving campaigns such as ‘load shedding’, ‘switch off’, ‘insulate better’, and ‘heat efficiently’, has until now, helped to considerably lower manufacturing costs and increase profitability. However, escalating energy costs consume an increasingly large percentage (a reported 30-90 per cent) of operating and maintenance budgets.

In the last decade, the industrial price of gas and electricity has shot up 122 per cent and 94 per cent respectively, so while Operational Effectiveness is key to meeting business objectives, it is now vital to adapt lean manufacturing approaches towards Production Effectiveness by rigorously managing energy usage…