Environmentally Responsible Manufacturing
30 Mar 2016
Hi-Force is continually striving to reduce its carbon footprint through efficiencies in manufacturing and operating processes. The manufacturing facility houses various innovative and environmentally conscious features including energy efficient heating, cooling and ventilation systems, renewable solar energy powered hot water, ground source heat pumps and rain water harvesting.
The day to day running of the facility is controlled through a fully automated BMS (building management system) which controls all aspects of the building systems and automatically adjusts for seasonal changes and when unoccupied.
The design of the facility also makes efficient use of the natural resources available such as natural day light in the offices and production areas as well as the capture or rain water which is reused within the building. The solar panels used on the roof of the building produce enough solar energy to run the fleet of high-level reach trucks in the logistics centre each year.
The Hi-Force manufacturing facility was the first facility in the local area to receive a BREAM ‘very good’ rating, for environmental efficiencies, and went on to inspire other businesses in the local area to develop their own premises to include further environmentally efficient features.
In addition to the environmental efficiencies of the manufacturing facility, Hi-Force also aims to reduce its carbon footprint throughout all areas of its operation. 100% of cardboard and wooden packaging as well as steel and aluminum scrap is recycled and waste oil and machine shop fluids are re-processed through an external licensed contractor.
Electricity consumption is monitored through a bank of electric meters allowing for accurate monitoring of consumption, identifying any changes required to achieve target improvements. For 2016 the target saving for energy consumption used in the manufacture of all components is 5% with a focus on improved cycle efficiencies, reduction in downtime, investment into improved tooling, review of material sizing and reduction of scrap and a reduction in the number of processes currently used.
The standards set by the Hi-Force manufacturing facility in the UK has also been applied to the Hi-Force regional offices located around the world. In addition, each regional operation is allocating an increasing amount of warehouse space to accommodate high stock levels and thus reduce the need for airfreights.