From Our Partners: Lean and Green Manufacturing

In 2008, the Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center (TMAC) began its 5th year of transforming organization to become both Lean and Clean. Companies are learning about the symbiotic relationship between cost-saving material management and environmental management systems. With a better understating on how to identify material wastes, recent workshop participants each identified typical savings of $71,800 to over $300,000. In addition, all found opportunities to reduce utility costs and solid waste impacts.

At the conclusion of the onsite projects attendees shared their thoughts.
“At first I doubted that someone who knew very little about our business could actually tell us how to do something better. I was wrong,” one business owner said.
“I was reminded to start using my brain again!” another said. “I have started to look at things in a new way.”
“Don’t be afraid to try this!” a group from central Texas said. “You will have no regrets.”

Implementing Lean and Clean-- Workshop Objectives:

• Learn to see Lean opportunities for improvement and opportunities for savings in materials, energy, water and utility consumption, or pollution prevention/mitigation.
• Understand the environmental performance implications and the connections to process improvement.
• Introduction to strategies and tools to integrate environmental factors into lean initiatives bridging the gap for reducing and eliminating all forms of waste.

To find out more on lean manufacturing and P2 visit the lean manufacturing topic hub at http://www.zerowastenetwork.org/.