Thinking Lean and Becoming Green

This article by Ron Harper on the canadianmanufacturing.com site completely reveals how Cogent Power Inc. (an Ontario-based manufacturer of transformer cores and components) is experiencing "green" benefits from its Lean efforts. Through the use of tools such as value stream mapping and kaizen, Cogent reduced both cost and waste in four main areas: electrical power demand, natural gas use, nitrogen consumption, and landfill usage. In addition, kaizen events reduced the waste in packaging design and its components as well as skid design. The results of this initiative are not only benefiting the organization itself -- its suppliers and customers are dramatically lowering their respective costs as a result of Cogent's efforts.

It appears Cogent Power started on its Lean journey back in 2004, and it's reassuring to see the organization's discussion of continuous improvement on the "Culture & Focus" part of its website.