Going GreenLean™ 

Medtronic's Janice Tobin, senior operations manager, environmental health and safety, says the company has embraced green by focusing on what she calls the Three Ps: People, Planet and Profit.

The "people" focus, she says, assesses how to engage employees. "Planet" reflects the need to reduce or eliminate waste.  " Profit" seeks out innovations that save money.

GreenLean™ is a business strategy that combines the principles of lean thinking with environmental sustainability efforts. It focuses on how saving energy and time can boost bottom-line savings and help manufacturing companies to grow.

Medtronic has been a champion of green and lean efforts since 2007, when it established a policy outlining its commitment to sustainability. The company is part of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, as well as the FTSE4Good Index, and has pursued initiatives ranging from water conservation to plastics recycling to packaging reuse and material replacement to reducing Volatile Organic Compounds emissions. At Medtronic's Brooklyn Park site, more than 55 percent of the total industrial waste created is recycled.

Tobin believes pursuing green and lean initiatives is beneficial for companies of all sizes. "The key, no matter what your size, is to work closely with your suppliers because they want to partner with you to reduce cost. By reducing waste, you end up reducing costs for both parties," she says.

Tobin will provide more detail about the business case for green as a panelist at Enterprise Minnesota's 8-11 a.m. April 19 business event, which Medtronic will also host.

Other presenters will include:

•  Ryan Bruers, field sales manager at Xcel  Energy;
  
•  Brian Kopas, director of supply chain management at Foldcraft Company
  

"When we look at opportunities for improvement, we look not only into the factory, where we typically start for reducing cost, but we broaden that to include suppliers and customers," Tobin says.

In one example, Medtronic's newly streamlined packaging process benefits its entire value stream. In it, the company replaced a wide variety of packaging shapes and sizes with a few standardized containers, which simplifies transportation and helps customers know exactly what size containers to expect. The new containers are also a lighter material, which minimizes transportation costs, and they are recyclable, which helps Medtronic and its customers to reduce waste.

Register to attend Enterprise Minnesota's GreenLean™ business event on April 19 here.

Presented by the Center for Business & Industry, South Central College and Enterprise Minnesota

This one day event is ideal for anyone wanting to learn more about Lean Enterprise, or to learn more about the Lean journey at their company or organization. Eight topics will be presented ranging from How to Develop a Sustaining 5S Program, to Effective Change Management, to Developing Leaders at All Levels.  Jamie Flinchbaugh, the Keynote Speaker is the Co-Founder of Lean Learning Center and  Author of The Hitchikers Guide to Lean: Lessons from the Road.
 
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
7:45am-5:00pm

Location: South Central College-North Mankato Campus, 1920 Lee Blvd, North Mankato, MN 56003. 

Cost: $90 per registrant.
Or call Erin Brim at (507) 389-7203 to register 4 or more people from your organization for a special discount price of $75 per registrant.

 
Who Should Attend?
Managers, operations directors, front line supervisors, office personnel, senior leadership and anyone interested in learning more about effective Lean tools.

For more information and to Register, go here 


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Lunch sponsored by: