Sustainable Manufacturing Toolbox
Participate in environmentally sustainable work practices
Transcript Case study: Improve resource efficiency at work
Introduction to plant operators
Mei
Here you will meet three plant operators in different manufacturing industries as they
work to make their workplaces more sustainable. I’ll let them introduce themselves.
Melanie
My name is Melanie Brown. I've worked at Thales Australia in Lithgow for 20 years.
My role has been as a machine operator. So it's operating the machines that are out
on the shop floor. And manufacturing the components and making sure that they're
top quality. Our company in Lithgow manufactures small arms products for the
Australian Defence Force.
Glen
Glen Field, Australian Vinyls. I am a process operator, so I work shift, run the
reaction dryer services, look after all the maintenance that needs to be done.
Andrew
My name is Andrew Morris. I work in a company called InterfaceFLOR. It
manufactures modular carpet. It’s located in Australia, in Picton NSW, but it is a
worldwide company, American-owned, founded by Ray Anderson. My job is leading
hand in the backing department, which is where we put PVC backing on the back of
the tiles and then cut them into various sizes and pack them and send them to our
warehouse.
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© Commonwealth of Australia 2010 | Licensed under AEShareNet Share and Return licence
Sustainable Manufacturing Toolbox
Participate in environmentally sustainable practices
Transcript Case study: Improve resource efficiency at work
Case study: Improve resource efficiency at work
Mei
What are companies actually doing to make things better for the environment?
Lots of people talk about it and it’s always in the news, isn’t it?
Improving resource efficiency in the workplace is one way. It also keeps the bosses
happy, because you’re saving money. I’m always telling my kids to turn off the lights
because that saves power and our family’s money.
At Thales, where Melanie works, it’s the same thing, except on a larger scale.
Melanie
The company likes to try and conserve energy by ensuring that all lights and power
is switched off when the shop floor has closed down, either at midnight or at the end
of a day shift. By doing that you're saving energy.
I do remember back 15 years ago, the old precision engineering building, which no
longer exists. They started turning all the lights out when they completed the shift,
and they saved something like $500,000 in 12 months, just by turning the light out.
Carlo
Meanwhile, the carpet tile manufacturer in Picton, where young Andrew works is on
the front foot. They’ve been looking closely at ways to save on how the tiles are
produced.
Andrew
Raw material reduction, for example, the fibreglass we’re supplied with, we’ve
actually measured how much we’ve consumed and the weight of it over the last few
years and we’ve reduced the weight of the fibreglass. So it still has the same
specification of the tile itself but it’s actually less weight of fibreglass, which means
we’re using less of that resource.
Mei
There are other ways that businesses can improve their resource efficiency. Melanie
is part of Thales’s Health, Safety and Environment Team.
Melanie
Recently we've been purchasing stormwater drain seals, so that if there is a spill, we
have these kits which will be located in each stormwater drain, so that we can put a
drainage block onto the drain, so that no run-off will go into the stormwater.
Page 2 of 3
© Commonwealth of Australia 2010 | Licensed under AEShareNet Share and Return licence
Sustainable Manufacturing Toolbox
Participate in environmentally sustainable practices
Transcript Case study: Improve resource efficiency at work
Carlo
Glen’s idea to recycle seal water is making a difference. I bet his boss is happy!
Glen
It just came to me by noticing that there was a waste of water, so I just thought ‘How
can we reuse it?’
Mei
In Andrew’s workplace there is a suggestion box for ideas to improve environmental
sustainability.
Andrew
I did make a suggestion about three months ago about reusing our waste raw PVC.
What happens is when we have a stop on the PVC line the raw PVC actually leaks
out the side of the machine and gets caught in 44 gallon drums. At the moment it’s
getting sent to a big oven and getting cooked and thrown in a bin and going to
landfill. I’ve actually suggested we have some sort of way of catching it in pipes and
getting thrown back onto the line in one process so we’re not wasting any PVC at all,
we’re reusing it and not only saving landfill but also saving money.
Carlo
So there you go peoples. Just open your eyes and take a good look around your
workplace and think about how you can make a difference. The environment will love
you, the boss will love you. Maybe you’ll even get a pay rise; who knows? Good luck
with it all! Ciao!
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© Commonwealth of Australia 2010 | Licensed under AEShareNet Share and Return licence