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Daily CSR

Daily CSR
Daily news about corporate social responsibility, ethics and sustainability

L’Oréal & GM Learn From Each Other



08/28/2018

A make-up manufacturer and an auto manufacturer swap to identify the scope for improvement.


Dailycsr.com – 28 August 2018 – The General Motors envisions a world of “zero emissions” and the company has also made “great progress” in the said direction through the improvement of “energy efficiency” in its operations across the globe, as it also aware that it “can’t get there alone”. Therefore, GM adds that:
“It’s important that we work together both internally and with other energy efficiency leaders to identify new opportunities for improvement and realize our goals”.
 
It is for this reason that the company couldn’t contain its excitement of being a part of the “Season Four of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) ‘Better Buildings Challenge SWAP’”. In a video series launched online, DOE “matched” GM with “L’Oréal USA” as a way to discover “new insights, save money and improve energy performance”.
 
The concept behind SWAP is a simple one which has been in use by GM for over ten years now. As it added:
“Each company swaps energy management teams that then tour the other’s facility to identify ways to reduce energy use and improve productivity”.
 
So now the question remains:
“What can a makeup manufacturer and a personal mobility company teach other?”
 
The answer is:
“A great deal more than you would think. From transitioning to LED lighting, shutting down equipment that’s not in use and managing compressed air to sharing employee engagement programs that empower local teams to drive improvements, both companies were winners in Season Four”.
 
In the words of Al Hildreth, the Global Energy Manager as well as Lead for the SWAP team at GM:
“Once we got past the difference in footprint and scale at L’Oréal’s North Little Rock plant in Arkansas, we quickly found areas for improvement along with best practices we could take back to Detroit. At a million-unit-a-day production rate, the L’Oréal team demonstrated that manufacturing complexity doesn’t have to impede efficiency.”
 
In General Motors’ “Detroit-Hamtramck plant”, which manufactures “Chevrolet Volt and Impala, Cadillac CT6 and Buick LaCrosse”, the company outlined the integration of sustainability forming the core of its operations. The Senior Vice-President of “Manufacturing North America”, L’Oréal, Carlos Ruiz Rabago stated:
“We really benefited from General Motors’ fresh perspective and their expertise in performing energy ‘treasure hunts,’ which are standard practice in GM’s plants. I can’t wait to create a similar program at L’Oréal to continue to push our sustainability forward.”
 
Among the other “best practices” shared by GM, some were:
  1. “Always be monitoring.”
  2. “Share with others.”
  3. “Don’t see things for what they are, but what they could be.”
 
Furthermore, General Motors also added that:
“While we’re still evaluating all that we learned at L’Oréal and as part of the ‘Better Buildings Challenge SWAP,’ we are sure a number of ideas will make it to our global operations. That is why we enjoy being part of the program. We get to share our best practices and learn from other plants that are implementing impactful energy efficiency measures”.
 
References:
ethicalperformance.com