APQC recently spoke with Lawrence Merritt, Jr., Manager of Global Environmental Policy at Ford Motor Company’s Environmental Quality Office, on the importance of having a manufacturing environmental strategy. He also discussed the implementation and benefits of Ford’s Environmental Operating System (EOS).
How critical is it that a manufacturing environmental strategy also be good for a company’s bottom line?
Very critical. If a manufacturing environmental strategy doesn’t benefit the company’s bottom line, it is unlikely to become embedded in the company’s business processes and may be set aside when external conditions become challenging. At Ford, our manufacturing environmental strategy provides the foundation for all our environmental actions.
Can you describe the motivation behind Ford’s Environmental Operating System (EOS) and the process for developing it?
Ford has many different manufacturing facilities (vehicle assembly, stamping, engine, and transmission) all over the globe. These facilities are subject to complex environmental regulations at the local, regional, and national level. In addition, these facilities have requirements related to ISO 14001 as well as corporate targets for the various environmental media (e.g., water use, energy use, CO2 emissions, waste to landfill, etc.). Consistent with the Company’s ONE Ford philosophy, EOS was developed to provide a single standard global system that integrates regulatory compliance, Ford environmental policies, business plan objectives and ISO 14001 requirements. EOS was developed by a central “core team” and subsequently implemented in each region.
One of the keys to a successful manufacturing environmental strategy is having well-defined goals for things like water use, waste sent to landfill, etc. What is the biggest challenge in developing those goals?
Ford is a very metrics-driven company. All of our key environmental metrics are reviewed at the plant, region, and global level. One of our biggest challenges is translating corporate goals into individual plant goals. Multiple variables need to be considered because individual plants vary (e.g., size, age, equipment) and regional differences exist (e.g., water scarcity, availability of recycling infrastructure).
At Ford, what was the biggest challenge to getting everyone to agree to the EOS standards in order to increase performance?
Due to the prior introduction of global Ford systems like the Quality Operating System (QOS) and the overarching Ford Production System (FPS), everyone recognized the value of extending this discipline to environmental matters through EOS. The biggest challenge was gaining agreement to abandon stand-alone local/regional environmental systems in favor of one common global EOS.
Ford’s EOS allows you to share successes you have had at manufacturing plants globally. What has been the biggest success you have been able to replicate at other plants?
One of the most critical elements of EOS is its common approach to ensuring robust environmental compliance. As things change at a facility (e.g., personnel, equipment, regulatory requirements), EOS remains the single central library of actions the plant must continue to perform to ensure compliance.
If you'd like to know more about how Ford's EOS enables it to translate its manufacturing environmental strategy into actionable items, register for Lawrence Merritt's free webinar to be held on May 20 at 10:30 am CDT.