Efficiency -
The Ultimate Green

Inefficient business processes suck up resources, waste energy and increase carbon emissions in staggering amounts.

Consider the case of Acme Manufacturing, a company that scraps 10% of its production.

• Acme orders, transports and stores 10% more raw materials than it needs to meet its customer demands. Which means more unnecessary diesel fuel burned and warehouse space constructed.



• It consumes 10% more direct energy to power its machinery and heat and light its factory space to make up for its scrap loses. More coal and gas burned at the local power plant. More carbon thrown into the atmosphere.



• And those two extra production machines that Acme had to buy to make up for its scrap losses required mining and processing more ore to make the steel, aluminum and copper used in their construction.



• Acme calls in people to work off hours to make up for it scrapped production. Which means more unnecessary miles being driven. More gasoline burned, tires worn and carbon emitted.



• And while Acme sells its lost production to a scrap dealer to be recycled that requires burning fuel to truck the scrap to away and then power to reprocess the materials.

You get the picture. Acme uses at least 10% more of EVERYTHING to get the job done. And pollutes 10% more in the process.

And it's not just manufacturing companies where inefficiency results in more carbon emissions and pollution:

• Poor sales and service processes result in more travel, commonly by jet, and miles driven.



• Call centers that can't quickly solve problems or have high call back rates buy more computers and phones, hire more people and equip, heat and light more space than they really need.



Overworked healthcare systems order more tests, which consumes more energy, particularly for power hungry imaging technologies.

If you’re concerned about green house gases and global warming, take a good look at how efficient you are. You’ll be amazed at how much good you can do for the planet (and your bottom line) by improving your productivity and quality.

And if you’re already an efficient producer or service provider, give yourself credit for your efforts. Calculate how much your performance is improving life on Earth compared to industry benchmarks. This data is a great addition to your annual report, PR efforts or company newsletter.

You can do good and do well. Be efficient.