Energy Management Programs

Many companies have instituted systematic improvement programs within their organization. LEA has extensive experience incorporating energy reduction and analysis into these programs, providing even greater results. LEA can prepare entire new programs or simply help you include energy into existing ones. Here are some of the more typical programs and our experience:

  • Energy Kaizen - Our staff’s first energy kaizen work was in 1999, with our experience growing extensively since then. During energy kaizen events, we work with the site team to show them how to identify and quantify energy savings. A typical kaizen event will potentially remove 10-20% of a site’s total utility costs, very often with less than one year simple payback. An added benefit is that the site now also knows “how to fish” for future energy savings.
  • Energy Six Sigma – we have worked on green and black belt projects for energy reduction, heading up the projects or just working as part of the site team. Our staff is Six Sigma trained, so we can easily take either role, lead or team member. During one project, working as lead with a dedicated site team, our staff eliminated about 50% of the total site energy cost using Six Sigma. Simple payback was less than 4 months.
  • Energy 5S – we have assisted teams with how best to incorporate energy aspects and savings into existing 5 S programs. Adding energy to a functioning 5S program can be very quick, and can provide more savings than you would ever think possible.
  • Lean Manufacturing – we have worked with Lean teams to specify where and when to consider energy. Our staff has been part of a world-wide lean training team, incorporating energy savings concepts into many Lean projects world-wide.
  • Behavioral Energy Change – more and more, companies are realizing the large energy consequences of everyday employee actions. LEA has worked with site teams to identify the true energy costs behind employee actions, so teams know how large the collective savings opportunity might be. We then work with the full site team to define an overall behavioral energy change program suitable to their specifics and culture.