Sustainable Business News from
Kuhn Associates Management Advisors
Building Sustainable Businesses
 
 
Volume 2010, Number 4                                                                                                                September 2010
In This Issue
Feature Article
Ideas You Can Use NOW
Calendar of Events
About Us
We help companies throughout the product supply chain create environmentally-sustainable businesses. Our consulting services include: creating enterprise-level environmental sustainability visions, goals and strategies; re-engineering internal processes to reflect environmentally-sustainable best practices; and  maximizing the environmental sustainability of product supply chains through the design and implementation of supplier assessment mechanisms.
 
We work nationwide in a variety of industries. We are extremely sensitive to clients' budgets and their capacity for change.
 
Whether it's an energy, water, chemicals or solid waste issue, our team of professionals is ready to help your business. Please contact us to learn how we can help you.
 
Call 212-343-1006 today.
 
Greetings!

After a summer vacation, our Newsletter returns with a Feature Article on the similarities and differences between "lean" and "green" principles and practices. In our Ideas You Can Use Now section, we've included tips on how to use the best of both of these ideas to reduce your company's environmental footprint and create a more sustainable organization.
 
Happy reading!

P.S. Do you follow our blog? Lots of interesting stuff there ... check it out here. And be sure to bookmark the page!

Feature Article: Is "Lean" Also "Green"?

We are often asked: "If I undertake a Lean initiative, won't that make my company "green"?. It's a valid question, since we know that the goal of Lean is to reduce or eliminate wastes. And less waste, less environmental impact. Isn't that "green"? Well, it's not quite that simple, unfortunately.

"Lean" comprises a well-defined set of principles and practices that seek to eliminate wastes. For Lean purposes, wastes are classified into seven categories (at least in manufacturing) and the goal is to eliminate waste in every category. Lean uses a set of tools (standard work, Kaizen events, 3P, TPM) to achieve these goals. Lean has improved the efficiency of many companies ... but does it make them green?

Lean alone does NOT make a company "green." Although it eliminates a lot of waste and wasteful activity, Lean leaves a lot of environmental issues on the table. First, Lean does not address the environmental aspects of manufacturing processes (e.g., it would be perfectly acceptable by Lean standards to use a toxic chemical in a manufacturing process, but this is certainly not an environmentally-friendly practice). Second, Lean does not deal with the environmental aspects of products or services outside of the production process (e.g., the environmental effects of raw material extraction, product use or product disposal). These gaps are significant in many cases and, therefore, make Lean NOT equal to Green.

There is two-fold good news here, though: Lean does dovetail nicely with environmental initiatives and companies can easily address the gaps that Lean leaves behind (see the Ideas You Can Use Now section below). So, use both Lean- AND sustainability-related principles and practices to make your company Green.
Ideas You Can Use Now!
 
In the Feature Article we talked about some of the gaps between Lean and "green." So here are some tips about how to bridge those gaps:
 
- To address the fact that Lean does not address the environmental aspects of manufacturing processes, you should consider doing a baseline sustainability assessment of those processes ... looking at greenhouse gas, water, toxic chemicals and wastes issues through a sustainability lens. Gather this information and then create a strategy to address the specific environmental aspects that leaning left behind. Get help from a professional if you don't have the in-house expertise.

- To address the fact that Lean doesn't account for environmental impacts before or after the leaned process(es), consider conducting a Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) on your products. This sustainability tool will uncover environmental impacts from activities such as raw materials extraction, product use and product disposal. It's a big task, so start with one product or a family of products that share materials, suppliers and markets. Again, you might want to enlist the help of a professional.

- Remember that personnel trained in Lean speak a different language and use different tools and methodologies than sustainability managers or experts. It will be critical to your overall success to get these team members together before you start your sustainability project to get them on the same page. You might also want to create an FAQ sheet with basic information on each subject that you can distribute to the entire project team before things begin.

Think about the specific situation of your company. Then, use these tips to begin your journey to sustainability ... using both Lean and Green!

If you have questions or comments, please contact us at 212-343-1006 or [email protected].

Calendar of Events
 
Here are a few of the interesting sustainability events happening in the coming months:

October 13 - 15 ... The Supply Chain Council Executive Summit takes place in Houston, Texas. Visit this site for more information.

October 19 - 20 ... GreenBiz puts on its first Innovation Forum at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco, CA. More information can be found here.

October 26 - 27 ... Intertek and others host the LCA Sustainable Product Design Conference in Miami, FL. Learn tools, guidelines and strategies to integrate lifecycle thinking into product design. Visit their site.

October 26 - 29 ... The Columbus Chapter of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers holds a Lean to Green Manufacturing Conference. They promise lots of "best practice" info. Check it out at this site.

October 28 - 29 ... EFT holds its 4th Sustainable Supply Chain Summit at San Francisco's Marriott Union Square. Lots of sustainability leaders planning to attend! Visit their site.
Thanks for reading! Please contact us today to discuss anything you've read here, suggest a topic for a future edition or learn how we can help you build a more sustainable business.

Call 212-343-1006 or email us at [email protected] for more information.

Sincerely, 

Robert W. Kuhn, President
Kuhn Associates Management Advisors LLC
www.kuhnassociatesllc.com
Copyright 2009   Kuhn Associates Management Advisors LLC
Reproduction without prior permission prohibited.