Step 1 - Planning and Organization

Task 1b: Form a Team and inform staff

Shijiazhuang Iron and Steel Company Ltd (Steel, China)

• Environmental and energy issues are dealt with by different departments. Energy is managed by the Engineering & Equipment Department where an Energy Control Manager has been appointed for each department (iron plant, steel plant, each of the three rolling mills, power plant, oxygen plant, and the remaining sections). Environmental issues are the responsibility of the Safety and Cleaner Production Department. To ensure that the perspectives from both departments would be considered during the assessment, both departments were represented in the Team.
  Lesson learnt: When environmental and energy issues are the responsibility of different department in a company then it is important to include representatives from both departments in the Team to ensure that the environmental and the cost/production aspects of energy are covered during the assessment.

Vishakapatnam Steel Ltd (Iron and Steel, India)

• Normally a Team would consist of less than ten members. At this steel company, a Team was formed comprising 15 members from their 22 departments because the production process is integrated and therefore energy options in one department would have an impact on other steps in the production process. The company already had a dedicated Energy Manager who chaired the Team.
  Lesson learnt: For integrated plants it may be necessary to form a larger Team with members from various departments because energy efficiency measures in one step of the production process could impact many other areas of the production process.

 Siflon Drugs Ltd (Chemicals, India)

• This small/medium company with about 20 full-time employees does not have formal energy management systems and procedures because of its size and most decisions are made by the Managing Partner. Because of the small size of the company, the Team consisted of only three members: the Managing Partner, the Production Manager and the Production Officer. No representatives from the shop floor were formally included in the Team, but there were the main source of information during the energy assessment and implementation and monitoring of options.
  Lesson learnt: Input from the shop floor is essential for an effective energy assessment, regardless of the structure of the Team.

ITC Ltd PSPD (Pulp & paper, India)

• The company has a dedicated Energy Manager and a number of small working groups that work on energy and resource conservation for different departments in the company. Their roles, responsibilities and authorities are clear and documented. However, the working groups operate on a "stand alone" basis and there is not much synergy between them. A Team was formed consisting of the Energy Manager and a few members from each working group to look at energy management at a company level.
  Lesson learnt: It is a good idea to form a Team with representatives from different existing work groups because that way the work of these groups is linked.

Coromandel Cements Ltd (Cement, India)

• At this company, the Team to carry out the energy assessment consisted of members from several committees that already existed and covered different areas of the company, including:

  • Cost Audit Team: which is responsible for gathering and analyzing various data, budgeting, tracking actual performance, identification of issues, proposing solutions, and reporting to management? This includes energy consumption, costs and energy conservation
  • Technical Services Team: which is responsible for analyzing production operations, identifying issues and proposes rectifying measures to improve productivity and reduce resource consumption, including energy.
  • Maintenance Team: which is responsible for daily analysis of equipment vibration and condition monitoring and identifying and implementing measures to increase the efficiency and availability of machines?
  • Task Force: which consists of senior managers and staff members from all departments, who are brought together to study a specific operational aspect (e.g. stores consumption) and submit a report with recommendations to management.
  A Team with seven persons was set up as a new Task Force to perform the energy assessment.
  Lesson learnt: Forming a Team based on already existing committees and groups in the company can make the Team more effective.

  Active Carbon Ltd (Chemicals, India)

• The company does not have an Environmental or Energy Manager or committee nor have energy responsibilities been formally allocated to a staff member. Top management and middle management discuss energy issues at meetings but these meetings do not include workers from the shop floor. Therefore a totally new Team had to be formed: the Plant Manager as Team Leader, a foreman from the production process; a shop floor staff with electrical/instrumentation knowledge and a laboratory chemist. The Plant Manager was also given the formal responsibility for energy management from now on in addition to his existing duties.
  Lesson learnt: It is important to form a strong team with clear roles and responsibilities, even if the company lacks previous experience with energy management.

 Pindo Deli PP (Pulp and paper, Indonesia)

• The Team comprised of members of the already existing Energy Saving Project Team under the Engineering Division, which is responsible for energy management and consists of 49 staff, including:

  • A Team Leader who is responsible for communicating Environmental and Quality compliance issues to their respective departments
  • Second-in-command production leaders of different departments on site
  • Six staffs dedicated to maintaining the ISO14001 environmental management system
  • Four staff dedicated to maintaining the ISO9001 quality management system

  Lesson learnt: Building the Team on existing organizational structures will result in a more successful assessment.

PT Semen Cibinong (Cement, Indonesia)

• A team was established at the beginning of the project, but due to reorganization at the plant this team was almost entirely replaced with new members. The same happened with the external facilitators, and therefore only one or two people knew about the options that had been identified and investigated for feasibility. It was quite a challenge for the new team to complete the implementation of options and monitoring the results without prior involvement in the assessment and this caused a delay in the completion of the project.
  Lesson learnt: It is preferable if at least some of the team members are involved from the beginning until the end of the methodology steps to avoid delays.

PT Semen Padang (Cement, Indonesia)

• Top management appointed the Production Director as the Team Leader. In addition to a Team for the energy assessment at company level, small teams were also formed for the four plants (named II, III, IV and V) separately. This structure made it easier to carry out the energy assessment at the different focus areas.
  Lesson learnt: It can be useful to create smaller teams, in order to effectively carry our energy assessments for different focus areas or departments.

Solid Cement Corporation ( Cement, Philippines)

• The company has an existing energy and environmental group called the Six Sigma. However, the company also selected the process engineer (as Team Leader) and members from the electrical, maintenance and health and safety departments to join the Team because they could add specific knowledge and skills needed for the GERIAP Project.
  Lesson learnt: Even if the company has an existing environment or energy team, it is still useful to look if there are others with useful knowledge and skills who should join the Team for the energy assessment.

Steel Asia (Iron and steel, Philippines)

• The company is preparing for an Integrated Management System Certification and recently created an Energy Management Committee that oversees the energy costs and savings. This committee also became the Team for the GERIAP project so that efforts are integrated in the wider management system.
  Lesson learnt: By using an already existing team as the Team for the energy assessment it is easier to integrate energy management into wider business management systems later.

United Pulp and Paper Company, UPPC (Pulp and paper, Philippines)

• The company has a dedicated Environmental and Safety Engineer (ESE) and he was an obvious choice as Team Leader. Other selected Team members were already involved in the implementation of the energy efficiency programs of the company.
  Lesson learnt: If the company already has an environment or energy manager it is easier to form a Team.

Dankotuwa ( Ceramics, Sri Lanka)

• The Team included a representative from the accounts department who also attended the five-day technical training programme. This enabled the accounts person to understand the methodology and the technical basics of energy efficiency, which helped him to assist the Team to collect the right cost data.
  Lesson learnt: By including an accounts person in the Team and giving him/her training on the basics of energy efficiency, he/she will find it easier to provide the Team with the right cost information during the energy assessment and monitoring of results for implemented options.

National Paper Company (Pulp and paper, Sri Lanka)

• The Team structure at this company was different than for most other companies. Instead of one team, the Mill Manager acted as Team Leader and appointed technical staff to take part in two separate teams for two focus areas (boiler and steam distribution). The external facilitators supervised the two teams and facilitated the application of the methodology.
  Lesson learnt: Rather than having one Team it is also possible to have a separate Team for each focus area supervised by the Team Leader and/or the external facilitators.

Asian Chemicals Ltd (Chemicals, Thailand)

• During the assessment there was a change over of the entire team except for the Production Manager who was the Team Leader. However, this did not cause any difficulties in completing the assessment because the company has good management and information systems and procedures as part of its certified environmental (ISO 14001), quality (ISO 9001) and safety (OHSAS 18001) management systems.
  Lesson learnt: If a company has good management systems then the assessment is less affected by a change over in Team members.

Medigloves Ltd (Chemicals, Thailand)

• The external facilitators for the GERIAP project in Thailand and the plant’s Team members worked together as a real Team. The external facilitators came to the plant with a fresh perspective and therefore were able to ask critical questions and come up with original suggestions to improve energy efficiency. The plant’s Team members were very open to suggestions made but because they knew the plant and production process inside out they were able to provide a reality check. The active interaction between the two groups provided the basis for the implementation of successful options.
  Lesson learnt: The best results are achieved when external facilitators and plant staff work together as a true Team, whereby each group provides their own unique input into the assessment.

Thai Kraft Paper Industry Co. Ltd. (Pulp and paper, Thailand)

• A new Team was formed for the GERIAP project, without building on existing committees or work groups. Several junior staff members were included in the Team and this was a success because they were very enthusiastic and motivated to learn about Cleaner Production and energy efficiency from the more senior Team members, external facilitators and the international consultant. Junior staff may be working at the company for many years to come, so they will be important for the continuation of energy efficiency in the future.
  Lesson learnt: Include some junior staff in the Team because although they do not have many years of experience, they are often keen to learn and contribute to improving energy efficiency and will be working at the company for many years to come, which is important for the continuation of energy efficiency in the long run.

Viet Tri Pulp and Paper (Pulp and paper, Vietnam)

• The Team was based on the Cleaner Production Team that was formed in 1999 as part of a previous CP project. Almost all members were familiar with the CP methodology before the GERIAP project, so it made it easy to apply the Company Energy Efficiency Methodology because that is based on the CP methodology also.
  Lesson learnt: Consider including staff in the Team who are already familiar with Cleaner Production

Ha Bac Fertilizer (Chemicals, Vietnam)

• The company’s team comprises 11 members from different sections lead by the Vice Director. Team meetings were held to assess available information, discuss areas of energy usage and select audit focus based on analysis of energy consumption data. For two selected focus areas (boiler house and steam distribution system) the Team’s tasks were agreed: (1) analysis and review of present practices (2) development and evaluation of proposed options (3) implementation and monitoring of agreed options
  Lesson learnt:

  • Team meetings are important to plan and carry out the energy assessment and implement and monitor options.
  • Team leader is the focal point for the whole project. That person also assumed responsibility for communication, data collection, organization of meetings and facilitation of the implementation project.

Company X (anonymous)

• One of the production staff was appointed as Environmental Manager at the start of the GERIAP project because there was no person on site responsible for coordinating energy and environmental management. This made the assessment easier because there now was a central person to coordinate the process. A disadvantage was that he was not given the authority to implement any energy efficiency options but had to seek permission from top management, who only met once a month at the Board of Directors meeting, which slowed down the process of implementing options later in the process.
  Lesson learnt: If no specific environmental or energy manager exists, top management can create this position when the Team is formed. However, it is important that this person is given a certain degree of authority to implement energy efficiency options to avoid unnecessary delays in the process.

Other lessons learnt:

• Inform all company staff about the importance of energy efficiency and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to the company, to obtain staff commitment
• At some companies the majority of staff was not informed about the GERIAP project and the benefits to the company. This increases the risk that staff are reluctant to cooperate with the energy assessment and to change their existing work practices
• The Team members should be introduced to the entire company work force to avoid that staff do not want to cooperate with the Team
• It is best to form a Team as early in the process as possible so that all Team members can take up their role right from the beginning, which will avoid delays later in the process
• The success of the energy assessment is strongly linked to the Team Leader. It helps if this person has sound technical knowledge and has the authority to make decisions. Often a top management representative or production manager met these criteria
• The Team Leader is the main contact person for going through the Methodology and his/her facilitating role covers amongst others communication, data collection, organizing meetings and implementing options
• The Team Leader must be someone who is readily available when needed. At some companies the Managing Director was the Team Leader but then was not actively involved in the energy assessment or available for input. This made it difficult for the Team and external facilitators to keep the project moving
• In case a member leaves the Team during the implementation of the Methodology, it is necessary to find a replacement as soon as possible who can carry out the same tasks
• Changes in top management can slow down the process since new top managers must be informed about the work already completed. Having a top management representative in the Team is useful so that he/she can inform new top managers
• An external facilitator can be useful for the continuation of the Methodology implementation in case there is a large turnover of Team members

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