Continuous Improvement Strategy To Stimulate Sustainability and To Enhance Environmental Management

Abstract

Summary An oilfield services company that recognizes the value of embedding sustainability into internal business processes has elevated environmental performance by expanding its existing Continuous Improvement (CI) program. This paper describes the program that has been successfully implemented globally during a 5-year period. It is illustrated with actual case studies that exhibit substantial savings in energy, water, and waste, alongside business cost savings. The program covers major facilities of the company's engineering and manufacturing division. Each year, participating sites have an objective to complete a minimum of one improvement project that actively targets elimination or reduction of environmental wastes. Each project executes the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC) process. The steps in DMAIC are incremental and data-driven, and use applicable statistical and analytical tools to enable solutions that deliver step-change impact. The Control phase specifically facilitates sustainability because it requires implementing models for preserving short- and long-term improvements. These projects are tracked in a centralized repository and undergo a standard validation process. The program entered its fifth year in 2014, with 28 participating locations worldwide. Project initiatives have generated significant financial benefits, exclusive of environmental savings. Annually, the program has saved an average of 2 378 000 kW-hr of electricity and 19 704 000 L of water, with 521 t of waste eliminated, reused, or recycled. The successes of the program are communicated both internally and externally, including contributions to sustainability filings. Internally, the program has provided a vehicle to positively engage employees across disciplines and to share innovations, technologies, and best practices for the environment. Projects resulting in facilities-related enhancements have demanded initial capital expenditure, but the return on investment is projected to continue beyond the annual timescale captured by the program. The program has stimulated forward-thinking management decisions on the future and sustainability within the organization. DMAIC is a recognized CI process that uses Lean and Six Sigma techniques. By leveraging on this approach to focus on the environment, the probability of overlooking environmental opportunities is substantially reduced. Lean's systematic elimination of waste is implemented in the very literal sense. Checkpoints in each DMAIC step reduce the risk of project failure, and Six Sigma's data-analysis methods enable measurable, visible results that allow the organization to track CI actions toward sustainability.