One Simple Step: To a Lifetime of Environmental Progress

No matter what segment of the economy you are operating in, one thing is certain: Meaningful environmental improvement is an absolute mandate.

The federal government, state governments, local ordinances, consumers, board members, and the investment community are all demanding improved environmental performance and their expectations for that performance will only continue to rise.

Yet, no matter how clear the mandate, one thing remains shrouded in confusion:

Where to start?

From the CEO to the facility manager, everyone is looking for ways to move from bold environmental mission statements to pragmatic plans, and from pragmatic plans to meaningful process improvements.

Data is certainly part of the answer, so should one look to expensive conversions from existing, equipment and traditional operations to high-tech smart equipment, with digitally driven operations? That sounds expensive and risky. What about retrofits? Can a handful of mixed, siloed retrofits be woven together piecemeal to make a meaningful difference? If so, which ones? And, again, where to start?

We believe the starting place is hard for businesses to find, because it is in the last place they would think to look…

The bottom line

That’s right, the first step toward sustainability starts with PROFITABILTY.

The global narrative suggests that going green has to be punitively expensive. But this global narrative is wrong. And, at Synapse, we have the system to prove it.

Environmentally responsible operations can, should – and, if it is to be truly sustainable – must be financially sound.

The first steps toward your environmental initiatives start at the bottom and work their way up to tighter controls of expenses. Specifically, energy expenses. By reducing energy cost, companies are reducing energy use, this reduces carbon footprint, this reduces fossil fuel consumption, this reduces pollution, and…this increases profit.

Shift the mindset away from viewing environmental improvements as a painful expense, forced upon the organization from external forces, and begin seeing them instead as an opportunity for financial improvement.

Starting the sustainability journey on a path that also leads to profitability is the critical first steps that allows it to be embraced and ultimately embedded in the organization’s culture.

Once environmental and financial goals are aligned, each successive step toward driving out waste by driving down costs will come more naturally.

So, how to get sustainability and profitability in lock step?

SimplySnap Energy Insights.

Not an expensive conversion to “smart” manufacturing. Not a complex and finicky mash-up of mixed retrofits. A light, simple, and scalable system that collects data and delivers clear, actionable insights.

As the name suggests, a collection of off-the-shelf current transducers snap onto sources of current and then collects energy use data from the power mains, from specific departments or zones, or even from specific pieces of equipment. The system is simple, reliable, and easily integrates other data sources in a snap.

Once that data is collected to the cloud, waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary cost have nowhere to hide. The SimplySnap Energy Insights solution allows facilities managers to quickly and easily see where energy is being used (and misused) and do something about it.

The comprehensive algorithm brings in other critical data like peak and off-peak energy rate schedules, then converts KWh to dollars and sense.

The solution is more than data, it’s insight. It’s clarity about when, where, and how much energy is being used, and, from a very simple install, it becomes a continuous source of meaningful intelligence that can be used on the factory floor and recognized in the boardroom.

SimplySnap is scalable. In addition to the core energy insights engine, SimplySnap produces an ever-expanding collection of energy-management solutions that allow energy and facility managers to turn existing old equipment into a modern, digitally aware network of equipment that can be deployed against the largest sources of energy consumption. In a snap, old HVAC equipment, bag houses, lighting networks, even the complex web of pipes and valves that make up an industrial scale compressed air system can be brought into the digital age and brought under control.

What’s good for the plant, is also good for the planet. Sustainability and profitability are not at odds with each other. They are, in fact, in sync. And, with SimplySnap, can be united in your organizations ongoing journey to continuous improvement.

Note: SimplySnap is a solution from Synapse.