June 24, 2024Energy Management Systems – Injection Molding 1Injection molding machines have ‘base’ and ‘process’ loads and an idling machine is not ‘free’, it is costing large amounts of energy and money. Read more
May 29, 2024Sustainability Management Strategies – Set up a Sustainability Management ProgramSustainability management is a continuing process that must become an integral part of the business operations. Sustainability management is not a single act but a process. Read more
April 16, 2024Energy Management Systems – The Gas BillMost plastics processing sites use gas simply for space heating but some processes use gas as part of the process, e.g., rotational molding. Where gas is used for hot water only then this is generally relatively constant over the year. For space heating, the gas use load will be related to the weather conditions (how cold it is) and the weather is then a ‘condition’ driver for gas use. Read more
April 3, 2024Sustainability Management Strategies – Prepare a Sustainability Road Map for your CompanySustainability will not be ‘completed’ in one or two years. It is a long-term program that will define and change how a company operates in the future. The sustainability road map a prioritized set of actions designed to get a company from where it is today to where needs to be in the future. Read more
March 14, 2024Energy Management Systems – Assessing PerformanceIn most plastics processing electricity is the main energy source. Electricity use is not, as is sometimes thought, fixed and uncontrollable, it is variable and controllable. For most sites, the electricity use will be directly related to the production volume in a given time period. Read more
February 21, 2024Sustainability Management Strategies – Map Actions on MaterialityThe materiality of an issue is another way of asking ‘how relevant and important is it?’. This is considered from two perspectives, those of the broader stakeholders (internal and external) and those of the company itself. Read more
January 25, 2024Energy Management Systems – The Electricity BillMany sites simply get the energy bill from the supplier and pay this some days later by direct transfer from their bank. The bill is not examined for accuracy or for potential areas to reduce costs and sometimes the production people don’t even see a copy of the bill – even though they are responsible for using most of the energy. Read more
December 13, 2023Sustainability Management Strategies – Create a Site Sustainability Management PolicyEvery site needs a policy statement to set the scene for the site actions and to make the commitment formal. The Sustainability Management Policy should be one of the fundamental site policies alongside policies such as health and safety, quality, environmental, energy, other operational policies, e.g., anti-slavery. Read more
December 7, 2023Energy Management Systems – Integrating Energy into the AccountsOne of the quickest ways to start to control energy use is to integrate reporting into the accounts package (along with all the other vital business numbers). Energy use and management is not a ‘technology fix’, it is a vital business measurement and tool. Some of the most effective energy management efforts can come directly from the accounting function. Read more
November 30, 2023Sustainability Management Strategies – Top Management CommitmentNo sustainability management program will be successful unless top management is committed to it. Top management will generally respond better to a well-reasoned financial argument but there is no conflict – it is entirely possible to be more sustainable and to improve profits at the same time. Read more