SQT Blog

Frank McDonald wrote an interesting article recently in The Irish Times about recent waste management initiatives in the Defence Forces.

(Waste Management is one of our core Environmental Management training courses hence why I was interested).

McDonald wrote: The Defence Forces have gone green by recycling up to 70 per cent of the waste they generate, slashing the volume going to landfill by more than three-quarters over the past eight years from 6,000 to 1,300 tonnes annually.

The cost of dealing with waste has also dropped dramatically, from €1.3 million in 2002 to an estimated €450,000 this year – largely as a result of switching from 16 local waste disposal contracts to a single fixed-price contract, tendered every three years.

Led by director of engineering Col Jim Foley, the effort to save money was spurred by increasing landfill charges in 2003/2004.

“That’s when we took the bull by the horns,” he said. Asked if changing the culture was the most difficult task, he replied: “Absolutely”.

The Defence Forces’ waste management campaign has involved the appointment of barracks waste management managers and teams, training of personnel and the installation of smart bins and compactor skips – and regular reminders.

Recycling is being extended to include composting for all kitchen waste in the nine largest barracks, including Cathal Brugha and McKee in Dublin and The Curragh. There are also annual inspections and awards – and “follow up action” in relation to poor performers.

Fair dues to the Defence Forces for their march on waste.

In 1998 the British Retail Consortium (BRC) developed and introduced the BRC technical standard and protocol for companies supplying retailer branded products, namely:

BRC Global Standard for Food Safety. This document is now on its fifth edition.

Three other BRC Standards have since been added

BRC/IOP* Global Standard for Packaging & Packaging Materials – Issue 3

BRC Global Standard for Storage and Distribution – Issue 1

BRC Global Standard for Consumer Products – Issue 2

* Institute of Packaging

The purpose of these four standards is to ensure that all retailer branded food items are manufactured, packaged and distributed according to a defined set of guidelines and procedures ensuring product safety and consumer confidence.

Compliance to the Global Standard for Packaging will establish conformity with management procedures and factory standards to be used by manufacturers of packaging and packaging materials whether sourced domestically or imported directly via distributors or third party agents.

Under EU regulation 178/2002, Food Storage and Distribution companies are now classed as Food businesses and as such have legal obligations to supply safe and legal products. The BRC standard for storage and distribution classifies such business into four distinct categories depending on the scope of the operation. Goods stored and distributed by such businesses are also subdivided into consumer products and food products.

Regardless of which end of the food/supply chain a company operates in, due diligence is one of the most essential elements of business continuity. Achieving BRC Certification against the relevant BRC standard not only allows companies to demonstrate due diligence, it also opens business opportunities with the most powerful sector in the supply chain, the retailer. The first step to achieving certification is to learn and understand the relevant standard.

Attendance at a BRC Global Standards training course will allow companies to benchmark their current Food Safety and Quality Management Systems against the specific requirements of the BRC standards and quantify the work required to pursue certification.

Lean Six Sigma has expanded its horizons to more than the usual suspects in terms of Projects. Traditionally, it was all about manufacturing and improving quality or reducing cycle times. However our Blackbelt and Greenbelt HETAC Programs have included some very unique and diverse projects in a variety of different Service and Transactional Industries. Examples include:

Improved Credit Card Fraud Processing by reduced input entries by 44%

Improved an EU Import Testing Process to meet a 23-day target

Green Statements – Removed the need for such a high volume of printed statements

Reduced number of errors relating to post being scanned to the wrong queue for distribution

Reduced Direct Debit Write Offs

PUK Code Calls – 15% reduction in customers’ calls to customer care for help

Standardization of Shipment Process resulting in not having to run an extra shift and resultant cost savings

Energy Saving Project – Reduction of carbon emissions by 23%

The process of screening referrals – increased management visibility and reporting of process performance resulting in less queries and non-value added investigation and tracking

Process Improvement is Process Improvement irrespective of the process and industry. The flexible and practical DMAIC* methodology of Lean Six Sigma has proven itself in this regard.

In the last round of completed Lean Six Sigma projects, cost savings of €8,808,801 were achieved over seventy six projects … an average of €116k per project

An average of €116k from projects that included more than the usual suspects!

*(DMAIC = Define-Measure-Analyse-Improve-Control)

Toyota, the Japanese car manufacturer has certainly learnt that lesson.

One can’t but feel slightly sorry for the company as it faces one of the biggest crises of its 77-year history. The company has been forced to recall millions of cars worldwide after it was discovered that there was a potential issue with the accelerator pedal in a number of models.

My attention was drawn by Simply Zesty, an Online PR and Social Media company to a video on YouTube by Toyota’s Director in the UK, Jon Williams giving a message of reassurance to customers and outlining how Toyota will manage the recall of customer’s vehicles.

I don’t know what you think, but the video gave me confidence that Toyota is endeavouring to deal with this major quality problem in a very professional manner.

It is interesting how social media is being used to get Toyota’s message out in this crisis. Simple Zesty have included examples here of other companies (Eurostar and Dominos Pizza) using YouTube in dealing with Quality problems.