Trash talk at team meetings

It was a very polite team meeting at the facility of one of our Silicon Valley clients, with everyone following the agenda and collaborating on a cost-reduction roadmap. But then the trash talk began, and after that toilet talk ensued. And the turn in the conversation didn’t bother our clients, or my colleague TFI Environment Consultant Danny Salinas, or me. The reason was that we were creating a High-ROI Environmental Roadmap and discussing steps that are good for business and the environment, including minimizing office-generated waste and reducing use of paper and water in the lavatories.

The beauty of talk such as this stems from the multifunctional, multiregional composition of green teams that develop Lean and Green strategies for product design, manufacturing, suppliers, product movement, cafeterias, corporate travel, corporate procurement, employee commutes, and in all aspects of facilities.

Two weeks ago at the TFI Quarterly Forum in Walldorf, Germany, we witnessed nearly a dozen environmental improvements throughout Forum-host SAP’s facilities. Examples include coffee and tea served in ceramic cups, avoidance of air-conditioning owing to smart natural-air-flow design and grass-covered roofs for cooling, solar panels generating 180,000 kw/year from photovoltaics, and rainwater collection for grounds irrigation and — yes — toilet flushes. And beyond the realm of facilities, SAP designs their software products to run on hardware consuming less electricity, and offers solutions to help customers to measure and reduce their carbon footprints. Taken together, SAP’s environmental and cost-savings initiatives cross numerous corporate functions and regions. We think that’s the best way to drive deep cost reductions and environmental benefits (as discussed in our recent TFI white paper).

If you are located in EMEA, consider attending the Design-for-Environment Workshop that my colleague Graham Adams and I are co-leading 22 June near Tel Aviv. It will be a full day’s experience of Leaning and Greening electronic product designs.

So, take a chance and bring up “trash talk” at your next cost-reduction meeting — in a civilized manner, of course. Last week, when discussing TFI’s High-Return Environmental Partnership, the VP of Operations at one of our electronics-contract-manufacturing clients told me, “As you know, every year I need to figure out how to take cost reductions to another level, so this may be one thing that helps us this year.”

What conversations has your green team had that led to significant savings for the company and environment?

Posted by Pamela J. Gordon, May 29th, 2009