GM's Robust Energy Management Meets “Challenge For Industry”

Abstract

ABSTRACTEnergy use is a large essential expense incurred by manufacturers or facility operators that contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. At General Motors (GM), although our expenditure for energy is not a large percentage of our total cost, we do spend in excess of $1 billion annually. GHG emissions from energy use represent over 7 million metric tons per year of GM's carbon footprint. Hence, a robust energy management business process is needed to meet the challenge for industry. Management of energy and carbon to reduce environmental impact has become important enough to be included in our business plan, just as safety, people, quality, responsiveness, and cost are. Following a model similar to EPA Energy Star's seven step approach, energy as an environmental element has been integrated into GM's business policy and model. Based on top-level commitment and public goals to reduce energy and GHG by 20% from 2010-2020, GM uses its standardized global manufacturing system (GMS) to ensure that en...