Reliability is a ‘green initiative’
Demand for products has declined in many parts of the world, and with more manufacturing being shipped overseas, reliability of our existing processes is even more important than before. Many of my friends in different industries have told me about all of the initiatives being done to green up their facilities and processes. Going green and being environmentally responsible is a great thing and I think we should be pushing to move more in that direction. With that being said, the interesting thing that I have been hearing is that reliability is getting lost in the green push.
I think reliability is the first green initiative we should invest in. Some people will argue that reliability is not a green initiative, but I assure you it is. It is no mystery that part of being green is doing more with less. Improved reliability will mean a decrease in demand of raw materials and storage space for those materials. A benefit in decreased use of raw materials means longer-term sustainability of the raw materials. This will also make it easier to project needs of materials because the process will be more stable and predictable. The decreased amount of raw materials may increase the cost per unit, but it usually will be far offset by the second part of reliability being a green initiative, which is a decrease in waste materials.
The decrease in waste materials will have a huge impact on cost and safety. Not only does the decrease in waste materials mean a reduction in disposal but also decreased cost in storage of the waste materials. Also, the decreased amount of especially hazardous waste reduces the risk of environmental or safety incidents occurring.
I am not in any way saying that we need to set the green initiatives aside. What I am saying is that reliability should take the front seat and not get put behind green. Reliability is a green initiative in itself.
There are numerous other benefits from being more reliability conscious, and if you would like to share some of these, please feel free to join in.
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Filed Under: Featured, Reliability Engineering | Tags: change management, maintenance management, reliability
Comments
By AusSteelMan on September 17th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
I like that point of view. I further it by saying that increased reliability of process (ie not just equipment) will reduce the rework required to a product, reduce the downtime (especially unplanned) thereby letting the equipment be available for effective production. In turn, utilising the energy the most efficiently, thereby increasing the “greenness” of each unit produced, or of the maintenance performed. Green Reliable Maintenance…worth considering…
ASM
By billie on October 20th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Oh, WoW…This is a great problem to solve…where there’s a problem there’s always an opportunity to create and a solution in many forms =) kool!!! I like this post…it enlightens my curiosity…I’m not much of an environmentalist, more of an eco-entrepreneur & I definitely saw the need to ‘Go Green’ the trend was should have started way back in say 2004…with Al Gore’s ‘global warming’ & other scientists’ predictions…The move/push for me to market the ‘Go Green’ campaign to the world was a humanitarian point of view….’No Green = No Humans’…after reading this post it really made me realized where my drive and passion is heading. So to the world, let’s work on this problem and create opportunity for human/earth sustainability & prosperity in every aspect of life/bsns/love.
By Rob Apelgren on October 20th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
I am not a global warming guy and really not a big fan of this “green” trend but I do believe in good stewardship of our resources. I think it is bad practice to try and green up all of the support activities, facilities, and supplies when there is little or no attention paid the actual process effeciency and reliability. I think the old saying “measure twice and cut once” sums it up.
By Dr. Thanki on October 21st, 2009 at 12:33 am
Reliability is a ‘green initiative’- should be the most important axiom in the technilogical environment. I appreciate this initiative to create the awareness, as a corrosion Specialist - where longitivity of equipment/vessels in a process plant and uninterrrupted process plant is the main goal of corrosion control discipline.
I will be happy to see such most relevant topics for the discussion.