Painting the Factory Green with Lean Thinking

Last month, a book titled The Green Factory: Creating Lean and Sustainable Manufacturing authored by Andrea Pampanelli, Neil Trivedi, and Pauline Found was published. This book proposes a new model, the Lean and Green Business Model (L&GBM), where the environmental aspect of sustainability is integrated with Lean thinking to create a way of thinking that contributes to and balances the three sustainability dimensions of people, profit, and planet. 

I spoke with Andrea Pampanelli about the book and asked her: "How does combining your Lean business model with a green initiative actually result in environmental benefits and higher profits?" Here is his answer: 

We know that walls, or organizational structure, cannot stop the flow of ideas but it does not mean that they are able to flow through quickly and easily. Lean and green thinking are rooted in differently, have different meanings, and occupy different spaces inside the business world. The environmental benefits and cost savings discussed in the book come from the integration of both by taking the powerful Lean culture already implemented in one organization and using it, not merely for eliminating the seven classic wastes (transportation, inventory, motion, waiting, over-processing, over-production, and defects) but in this case, for increasing the performance of the manufacturing mass and energy flows -- the important supporting flows for production. These two different ways of thinking will meet during the crucial Kaizen events and Lean thinking will dramatically increase environmental benefits and profits. 

What are your thoughts in regarding to combining Lean and green initiatives? Do you have experience
deploying Lean and Green in a manner that resulted in environmental and cost benefits?

Are Electronic Networks the New A3s?

I recently read this short article titled Lean Project Ideas by Dan Antony, which appeared on ehow.com. The article reviews basic concepts as defining value streams, identifying waste, kaizen events, and automation. The section that specifically caught my attention advises to "implement social media" -- that is, using electronic tools to share and illustrate improvement ideas throughout the company and worldwide locations. For example, Siemens has established an internal blog so employees can share benefits worldwide almost instantaneously while Microsoft is encouraging its employees to use podcasts to proliferate ideas throughout the organization.

A3 reports have used by Toyota for decades to document improvements, and this problem-solving tool has gained much popularity and use in the US during the past few years. A3s were named after the size of paper used to document a particular solution -- but it's the concept, and the thinking behind it, that holds the real power. Are electronic networks the next logical step in the evolution of A3s?

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.

Karen Martin On Your AM Dial

Karen Martin (author of both The Kaizen Event Planner: Achieving Rapid Improvement in Office, Service, and Technical Environments and Metrics-Based Process Mapping: An Excel-Based Solution) will be a guest on the The Lean Nation radio show on Friday, March 12, from 4 pm to 5 pm (EST) on 790 AM Talk and Business, hosted by Karl Wadensten. She will discuss holding kaizen events in non-manufacturing settings.

You can listen live on 790 AM (Citadel Broadcasting, ABC Affiliate) in Providence, Rhode Island. In addition, the show is globally available via a live audio stream at 790business.com. She will be answering questions and listening to opinions, so feel free to call in to the show at 401-437-5000 or toll free at 888-345-0790. If you can’t tune in live, a podcast will be available after the show.

The Lean Nation is a new show on 790 AM and airs weekdays from 4 pm to 5 pm (EST) and streams online at 790business.com. The Lean Nation features real world examples and actionable advice from local and national business leaders on how “to reinvent yourself into a lean operation in business and in life.” The show's host, Karl Wadensten, is the president of VIBCO, a Rhode Island manufacturing company.