Marketing message experts, driven by global warming fever, are more often linking green with lean

Value stream mapping, a lean analysis approach, is used to link wasteful production practices to reduced energy use. Consulting firms and companies have put together excellent lean programs focused on reducing waste which includes energy. But to say that all of “green” is the new lean is to attempt to piggyback an ill-defined concept onto a tried and true approach. It’s probably more accurate to say that lean concepts can be tenuously linked to some green efforts.

How do you view lean? Is green the new lean? In what way?

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Post from: EveryJoe

Green is the New Lean?

My fascination with how global warming and green messages are being used and abused by companies continues

“Green is the new lean. Attend this Learning Path to discover how you can apply green concepts to your daily work. Examine the financial implications of sustainable purchasing. Evaluate models and methodologies for greenhouse gas emissions and “greening” your supply chain. Discuss how to develop a successful and sustainable plan for your company.”

The first time I read this my scam alert went off. Upon closer analysis, I found many more questions being raised than answered and possible misuse of terms. This is typical for green messaging which, for me, is comedic. As I’ve exposed in my post on how Prius’ are worse energy offenders than Hummers, feverish global warming marketing is often behind “green” concepts. Notice how that phrase (global warming) is being used less and less in favor of the nicer “green”.

I reserve my comments for the most interesting claim, “green is the new lean” for the next post.

What do you think? Are you having trouble figuring out what is “green”? Do you have a “green” plan? Is green the new lean?

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Post from: EveryJoe

Green Messaging Gone Amuck

Plastic Bag Tax – AB 2058 (Levine – D) would force grocery stores to impose a new tax of 25 cents for every paper and plastic bag used by shoppers.

Global Warming Tax — AB 2558 (Feuer – D) would authorize the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency to impose one of the two different taxes – an increased gas tax as high as 3 percent of the retail sales price or an increased car registration tax as high as $90 per vehicle.

California, famous for “alternative use” of taxes and fees, is catching up to tax policy in the Netherlands. We can argue about the causes of global warming, but these taxes are an excuse to spend money on unrelated programs. Note the tax on PAPER AND PLASTIC bags. It turns out after an initial attempt to impose plastic bag bans, well researched articles clearly showed that paper bags do MORE environmental damage and landfill “abuse”. The ridiculous solution is NOT to ban both, but to tax both! It’s not behavior change that big government legislators want- it’s our hard earned money.

How do you feel about taxation of individuals to change behavior? How about corporations? How are you staying abreast of this type of tax abuse and voicing your opinion about it?

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Post from: EveryJoe

California Catching Up with Netherlands Global Warming Taxation

For those of you who believe that your carbon emissions won’t be tracked,

David Simchi-Levi, cofounder of LogicTools and now an ILOG consultant, says companies in the European Union, which has agreed to abide by the Kyoto Protocol for reducing greenhouse gases, already have a financial incentive for deploying tools like the Carbon Footprint Extension.

“Companies that can show their carbon emissions are below the limits [set by the Kyoto Protocol] can sell emission credits on the open market to companies above the limits,” Simchi-Levi says. “The market for those credits was 40 billion euros in 2007.”

When technology enablement companies can sell software to help companies track carbon output, it’s proof that the business process is here to stay. But what will the tracking be applied to? MBT speculates:

“We may be approaching a time when the amount of carbon emitted during the course of filling orders may become a standard planning variable.”

Are you tracking carbon emissions? Have you measured your carbon footprint? What projects are being spawned by carbon tracking? Do you believe that you will someday be required to track carbon emitted during the filling of orders?

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Post from: EveryJoe

Just Thought You Should Know: Europe Leads in Tracking Carbon Emissions

European Supply Chain Management

There is a tax already in place in the Netherlands based on the carbon footprint of product packaging. The challenge many manufacturers face is not simply adapting to the new demands but also ensuring their product is still safe, effective and profitable.

For products in development, these new pieces of green legislation may cause more than change – they can cause a product to be pulled indefinitely, causing heavy losses. Again PLM can help in mitigating this cost and even salvaging a product.

Yes, you heard it right. The contrived carbon footprint model is going to lead to taxation of businesses. It’s starting in Europe and will quickly be followed by my “bleeding edge” state, California. This is the worst anti-free market action that a government can take; innovation squelching taxation based on a flimsy rationale designed to appeal to a politicians constituency.

The idea of carbon footprinting your business is generally viewed to be as onerous as Sarbanes-Oxley (see my post on this). First their were fears of penalties associated with a poor carbon footprint and now taxation. So- why PLM systems to counter this? Those systems do a great job of catching all the guidelines and restrictions that you must adhere to during the design phase. In other words, and unfortunately, you will be required to design “green” into your products or suffer the consequences of taxation and even worse, INDEFINITE pulling of your products off the market. Don’t get me wrong, there are benefits to a green strategy (energy and packaging cost reductions) but taxation of business based on this is ridiculous.

How do you feel about the direction of carbon footprinting and taxation based on it? Does your company have a plan to fight this type of legislation and taxation? Does your industry have a marketing approach to counter perceptions of your “greeness”?

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Post from: EveryJoe

Carbon Footprint Taxation is Here! Get Your PLM Systems in Shape