Two weeks ago I co-led a four-hour Sustainability Workshop for a couple dozen executives sitting in a conference room 7,500 miles away, and I didn’t even need to pack a bag. Videoconferencing is a tool that could be used much more widely in the electronics and other manufacturing industries as a strategy to reduce the costs and environmental impact of air travel.

As we set up for the workshop, some clients at our location saw their colleagues at the distant location for first time, even though they’d been working together for some time. “Is that Linda? Hi, it’ Chris! Nice to ‘meet’ you!” –Big grins of delight.

I had the ability to angle the remote camera (it happened to be a PolyCom ViewStation EX) and see everyone in the workshop, ask questions of individuals, see and hear their responses, and gauge their understanding of the concepts.

On-site in the workshop room with the executives was TFI Environment Consultant Dr. Kim Allen (she was in the region). Kim says she appreciated the videoconferencing system because it made the workshop truly co-led. I appreciated Kim being “live-and-in-person”– especially to facilitate the hands-on exercises and judge the contest winners.

OK, what was the client’s ROI for using this productivity tool?
* For not flying me in for the half-day workshop, the client saved about US$6,500, for (1) airfare, (2) other standard travel expenses, and (3) my time (we bill travel time at half our consulting rate—not to exceed 8 hours of billing in a day).
* Next May when reporting emissions to the Carbon Disclosure Project, the client will enter 6,230 fewer pounds of CO2 emissions.
* Our clients got to schedule the workshop on their first-choice date. My schedule did not allow me to fly to the client location; it was the same day as our Quarterly Forum!
* From an internet search today, I found the same mid-range set-top conference-room system that the client owns for less than US$2,000 (for a new unit—it’s even less refurbished with warranty and technical support). The client used their existing, secure data and voice networks, so the operations costs were nominal.

There are many other systems and manufacturers from which to choose, ranging from a $35 attach-to-your-own-computer-screen camera used with the free or nearly free Skype service, to the Telepresence system (here’s a fun demonstration). To foster successful global supplier relationships without the cost and exhaustion of global travel, I especially like Tandberg’s wireless, hand-held videoconferencing unit—such as for seeing and resolving together an issue on the manufacturing floor.

Hey global TFI contacts: Maybe I will see you soon–with Skype at the very least. Extra points go to the first of you who arranges to meet with me using a Telepresence system.

Please share your experiences with videoconferencing so all can benefit: What was your company’s positive or negative ROI (e.g., did your equipment investment truly result in less employee travel?)? How did the cultural shift come about? Do you have a humorous story about videoconferencing?

Posted by Pamela J. Gordon, August 14th, 2008

Filed to Environment, Lean Practices, Outsourcing, Supply chain management

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