MANUFACTURING

  There is little incentive for manufacturers to design out waste: most (if they do anything) will take the reactive (short-sighted) route of just minimising landfill, waste water and energy costs.

  Waste can arise at various stages:

Goods arriving at site

  When goods arrive on site then waste may arise from the packaging or from defective or incorrectly specified goods. SMEs have little control over either of these.

Product Design

  Major design houses and specialist firms provide "Eco-design" expertise, but at a cost which would be likely to be prohibitive for a small company. It is important that design should address the whole life-cycle of the product: for example, designing specifically to reduce waste in the manufacturing stage may result in increased waste at other stages in the product lifecycle.

Manufacturing processes

  There are often simple things which can be done which improve efficiencies dramatically. We send students out into industry to do project work which very often involves exactly this—wastage reductions of 10 to 30 per cent are routinely achieved, with associated revenue gains. Much of what they suggest is really just common sense, though backed up by data-collection. Companies often don't manage this unaided because (even if they suspect that there are savings to be made) they don't have the time to:

—    measure what is happening;

—    analyse the data;

—    define a strategy; and

—    implement change.

  Some processes are inherently less wasteful of energy or material than others. But changing a process normally has implications for capital investment in equipment, so there are huge barriers to radical change.

Quality

  Off-specification goods constitute waste: at the least, re-work; at worst, discarding the product. Resource spent on improving quality control is well spent, but small companies running hard to maintain their position often fail to do this. Getting the manufacturing operation correctly set up initially is part of this (including having the right design), but huge improvements can often be achieved simply by ensuring that routine maintenance is carried out.

SMALL MANUFACTURERS

  SMEs typically have little influence on the supply chain, up or down. They can rarely improve their market potential by being actively "green".

  An example of an initiative which seems to be doing exactly the right thing is Resource Saver.[2] Funded by EEDA, this aims to help companies reduce waste. It sends trained volunteers (often students) out into companies (particularly small businesses) to help them do this. Training consists of a sensible one-day course leading to a "Waste Awareness Certificate" put on by the Chartered Institute for Waste Management.[3] The course is largely awareness-raising and common-sense, but includes very practical advice on how to make simple improvements together with persuasive examples of revenue savings. Lists of local recycling centres are provided. This course is open to anyone, and local businesses are encouraged to attend.

LEAN MANUFACTURING AND SIX SIGMA

  The "Six Sigma" approach aims to improve quality. It involves detailed measurement and statistical analysis, followed by a comprehensive plan of action and a rolling programme of improvement. This obviously helps to reduce waste by reducing the fraction of off-specification goods produced. For small companies the full Six Sigma approach is usually inappropriate (and training is expensive). Information on courses is readily available on the web.

  "Lean" embodies principles of waste reduction (encompassing material and energy as well as human capital and work efficiencies). "Just in time" manufacturing (part of the "lean" philosophy) helps to avoid waste by reducing the amount of stock lying around and subject to damage, and also avoids un-necessary production of unwanted goods. Full training in Lean manufacturing (again plenty of information is on-line) is expensive, but understanding of even the elements is helpful. A "light" version could be very helpful for many SMEs.

HOW WASTE REDUCTION CAN BE PRESENTED AS A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

  Regional development authorities are in a good position to make an impact, with their knowledge of companies and businesses. They do need to actively go out to them, making it as easy and unthreatening as possible.[4]

  For small businesses, mutual support and information-sharing is very important. Anything that can be done to encourage them to share best practice (which may include waste reduction) is valuable. Leaders in the SME community may have set up "clubs" to do this (eg a good local example in the Cambridge area is Ludo Chapman, MD of Grant Instruments, Shepreth).

  Businesses should use children and family and community initiatives. Children are learning about waste, reuse and recycling at school: bring this awareness into the workplace, eg schoolchildren on "take your son/daughter to work" days.

  Free SME attendance at courses such as "Waste awareness certificate" plus incentives such as local "green-listed" companies.

  It's not difficult to make savings, but people do have to be encouraged to stop and think a little.

  Recyclers could be more pro-active at seeking out businesses as waste suppliers. For individual small businesses, volumes are often too small to be commercially interesting, so business parks should be targeted as a matter of course.

GAPS IN KNOWLEDGE THAT PREVENT BUSINESSES FROM REDUCING WASTE

  The immediate reaction is often "It will cost more", followed by "Don't have time".

  Many are completely unaware of the range of materials which can be recycled. Even if they wish to make improvements, a common complaint is lack of time to seek out recyclers and find what they require.

  Manufacturing and business practices are often inherited, or have developed in an adhoc way. Small companies may not be aware that more resource-effective processes exist. However, finding out may be beyond their scope.

HOW COMPANIES CAN FIND OUT WHAT THEY NEED TO KNOW

  The problem is not that there is a lack of information, rather that there is too much.

  People either want to start (a) by telephoning someone, or (b) to be able to quickly find authoritative material on-line.

(a)  Do the RDAs have help-lines?

(b)  There are some very useful resources on-line, but there is also a great deal of rubbish. We need to have resource portals which are managed, so that they are prepared to filter information (and keep it up-to-date), to provide the quick answer (and where to go for the more detailed answer) for sets of waste-related questions.

WASTE REDUCTION IN PROCESS INDUSTRIES

  The Committee requested additional case studies from picme which illustrate the potential for waste reduction through the deployment of Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma methodologies in tandem with cultural change (changes in people's attitudes and behaviours).

PRODUCT CHANGEOVERS IN CHEMICAL, PHARMACEUTICAL AND POLYMER MANUFACTURE

  With the major exception of basic bulk chemical/petrochemical manufacture, the majority of processing plants manufacture a range of product types and grades by running production campaigns and then cleaning down their process plant as part of their changeover to the next product. These changeovers can consume both considerable time (and hence lost capacity) and also considerable energy and materials for cleaning. In many instances water is not appropriate for this cleaning and organic solvents must be used (expensive to buy and dispose of).

Example 1

  Picme has worked with many process manufacturers to address primarily the duration but also the cost/waste of these cleandowns/changeovers. Typically we have enabled manufacturers to reduce their downtime for changeovers by around 75%. A secondary effect of this is that much less energy and cleaning medium (solvent or water/detergent) is used. The improvement process involves developing the best cleaning method and the tightest means of controlling this so that it is done consistently each time. Last year, working with a chemical company in the North East, cleaning solvent usage was reduced by about £100,000 per year.

PROCESS YIELD IMPROVEMENT

  Process yield is the efficiency with which raw materials are converted into saleable product. In chemistry it is not always possible to achieve 100 per cent conversion and there is considerable science underpinning plant and process design to achieve an economic conversion rate without incurring excessive capital cost of additional plant equipment for material recovery and recycle. However, sometimes design yields are not achieved, or can be bettered. Also, over time, plants may have to be adapted to produce new products for which there has been less process development.

  Picme has helped process manufacturers improve their process yields by helping them combine the practical observations and knowledge of plant operators with the technical knowledge of process engineers and chemists. Often we help them devise and review trials of modified plant operation.

Example 2

  Last year a chemical company in Greater Manchester reported that we had helped them improve their process yields from being £300,000 pa below the design efficiency to £100,000 pa above the design efficiency. This company had previously believed that achieving design efficiency, was an inspirational target and not something they could exceed. The graph below illustrates this. Worth noting is that efficiencies peaked in early 2007 and then started to decline. This was partly as a result of the introduction of having to produce new products in shorter campaigns. The plant is now improving its yields again.

  This was achieved through revising operating practices, improving operator focus on conversion efficiency, implementing a couple of very minor changes to plant equipment and no capital expenditure. The above example played a big part in reversing the above company's five year slide in profitability (Far East competition).

Example 3

  A large scale continuous flow bulk chemical plant (Europe's second largest facilty for producing chlorinated solvents) learnt how to apply Lean Manufacturing and picme improvement techniques to the part of its plant designed to recover traces of organics from its effluent stream (Any organic effluent that goes beyond this stage is incinerated). The result was to increase organics recovery back into the processing plant by circa £120,000 value pa.

ENERGY IMPROVEMENT

  Companies can learn about energy improvement through the deployment of common good energy management processes and energy efficient technology from the Carbon Trust. Many process industry businesses feel that they have now already integrated typical CT recommendations into their processes. However, they still have big energy improvement opportunities associated with the efficiency and productivity of their plant production process. The more quickly materials are produced the less time they spend being heated, moved or cooled. Increasing the output capacity of a plant's current assets will generally involve only marginal additional energy and the energy cost per tonne of saleable output can often be reduced considerably.

  Picme has worked with many process manufacturers on capacity improvement without involving capital expenditure. A few published examples of achievements are:

—    Rohm & Haas, Dewsbury output up 40 per cent;

—    NPIL Pharma (was Avecia), Huddersfield up 100 per cent; and

—    Johnson Matthey Catalysts, Billingham output up 29 per cent.

  Some companies who have not required additional capacity, have specifically sought picme assistance because of the economic pressure of rising energy costs. The range of outcomes has been wide—£50,000 pa to £1 million pa.

SCRAP AND OTHER WASTES

  Six Sigma methodology was original developed to reduce manufacturing scrap rates, ie getting the product right first time more of the time thus eliminating recycle and scrap. Repeat product failures are usually investigated. From benchmarking we can see that half of the chemical industry now has a right first time rate of 98 per cent or better. The other half has, of course, a larger opportunity for improvement. Six sigma or similar and thorough, structured problem solving can virtually eliminate most such waste if pursued relentlessly.

  Picme had been contracted by Defra to conduct a short study into the causes of waste generated by the chilled foods industry. The study found that certain wastes such as raw material packaging were difficult to avoid, as requirements such as hygiene and safe handling must be met. However, the industry produces a considerable quantity of in-process waste and scrapped output. Weaknesses in the industry's skills and deployment of continuous improvement practices were found to be a major contributor. Picme has worked within this industry and demonstrated that problems blamed on equipment design/technology barriers can be considerably improved through improving operating and management practices coupled with regular structured problem solving.

Why don't companies put more effort into waste elimination?

  A question raised by the Committee was that it should surely be that manufacturers already have the financial value of waste reduction as a big incentive for waste elimination. This is often true. However, many companies are unable to see the potential scale of their improvement opportunity or their improvement efforts fall short through weaknesses in their approach. The majority of operating sites are also now very resource constrained (few people) and struggle to find time to learn the best ways to improve without external support.

  The Manufacturing Advisory Service seeks to help manufacturers of all kinds improve and can often deliver good results but none have the expertise required to bring best practice into some parts of the process industry and many of their people simply do not understand chemical manufacture at all (it is very different from traditional manufacturing). This is the case for having sector specialist "industry forums" like picme who were created (with DTI and industry backing) to develop the expertise needed by certain sectors. In some regions MAS will employ picme, but in others the MAS contract holder views all industry forums as competitors and will not encourage industry to engage. Public sector funding policy should address this issue so that industry is encouraged to use the best support available. Picme has demonstrated the difference we can make by increasing the process industry engagement with an RDA's (ONE North East) manufacturing improvement support programme ten fold through collaborative working. The RDA commissioned an independent audit of this and the report concluded that the process industry strongly felt the need for sector specialist support and that our credibility with the industry was key.

3   http://www.ciwm.co.uk/pm/389 Back

4   eg http://www.resourcesaver.org.uk/ mentioned above. Back