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Before the economy took a turn in late 2008, green initiatives were all the rage. And while
sustainability hasn't dropped off the radar, most companies are looking
for initiatives that are green and help reduce costs at the same time.
"At the end of the day, people are still in business to make money," says Lou Cerny, a vice
president at consulting firm Sedlak.
According to Cerny, there are plenty of small, green initiatives you can undertake in the DC.
They don't require a huge outlay of cash, and if you make enough of them, you can save as much as
20 percent in operating costs.
Cut back on utility bills with new
exit signs
Many DC managers already know that switching to new T5 or T8 fluorescent bulbs can reduce
energy use and cut utility bills. But did you know you can also change the
type of exit signs you use and save money as well?
A typical DC will have at least a few exit signs, which run 24 hours a day.
Most use incandescent or compact fluorescent bulbs, but Cerny says that if you
switch them out with LED (light-emitting diode) exit signs, your replacement
time is approximately 50,000 hours.
You can save as much as $1,000 in 10 years, per sign, Cerny says. If you've
got 25 or more exit signs in your facility, that's $25,000 in savings. While that's
not a huge number, it still adds up, particularly when combined with other
initiatives.
Improve motor efficiencies to save energy and money
If you've got large motors on equipment in your DC and your operation runs anywhere from 16 to 24
hours, are those motors running as efficiently as they could be? Cerny knows of one DC
that uses a technology called Ample Amps to help improve motor efficiency.
The technology allows a secondary winding to be inversely connected in the
stator of the motor. The winding uses the induction from the rotor to produce
a current. This action collapses the reactive output of the motor and gives a
'soft' start both mechanically and electrically, which can result in up to 40 percent
less peak current required to bring the motor to full speed and horsepower.
"It takes motor efficiency from around 75 percent to the 90 percent range, and that savings can add to a savings
in dollars," Cerny says.
Stop flushing away your money
Replacing your current urinals with waterless urinals sounds like a joke,
but Cerny says the savings you can get from it are pretty serious.
The waterless urinals cost approximately $250 to $500 to install, but typically,
there is an annual savings of 20,000 to 45,000 gallons of water per urinal. And
that can lead directly to savings on both the purchase and disposal of water.
Get back to nature with indigenous landscaping
How you landscape around your facility can also impact your utility usage,
Cerny says. For example, you certainly don't want to put grass around a DC in
the middle of a desert; the amount of water - and money - it would cost
to keep the grass alive would be prohibitive.
He recommends using native plants and grasses that provide natural, low-maintenance
landscaping. That helps with both water
use and storm water surcharges.
There are also new types of pervious pavement available, he adds. they allow
water to percolate through the pavement rather than running off into the
storm water system.
Boost cube utilization with multi-depth cartons
Most DCs don't want to carry different carton sizes in inventory just to
match each order as it goes out the door. But at the same time, using regular slotted
cartons (RSC) can also create inefficient cube utilization when shipping.
When using a standard RSC carton and items don't fit exactly, it's common
practice to fill the rest of the carton with dunnage, whether that's environmentally
unfriendly foam peanuts or air pillow systems. And that essentially means
you're shipping air, Cerny says.
But multi-depth cartons (MDC) can help. An MDC has the same box design
as an RSC, but with horizontal scores (creases) at selected depths along all four
side walls. This feature gives you depth flexibility when packing the box.
That helps with transportation costs, Cerny explains. It allows you to
use less void fill and to maximize the cube utilization in a truck or trailer.
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