Earth Belt Certificates
The following is a list of Earth Belt certificates issued:
| Cert # | Name | Problem | Summary |
| 1508-001 | Scott Vander Molen | Using Seamless Flow to Build Truck Loads | Problem: Every customer order was being printed and manually sorted to put all orders from the same customer together. The orders were then further manually sorted to determine which customer orders would go together on each truck. It was estimated that this was consuming a box of paper each week.
Solution: Through a brainstorming session, it was determined that the same end result could be obtained electronically with a custom Excel spreadsheet. A solution was built in 8 hours. In addition to saving a box of paper each week ($1560 per year), we are also saving $18,200 per year on toner. The time savings is 2 hours per day, which works out to just over $10,000 per year. Total annual savings is just under $30,000. |
| 1512-001 | Marcelo Pinto Dabike | Reduce lead time for customer invoicing process | Problem: One activity “Authorized Invoice to Providers” utilized around 32% of the lead time.
Solution: Avoiding the scanning/printing of documents will save the paper sheets and the energy used for printing and scanning. If we consider avoiding these two activities, the total environmental impacts would be using 2,600 less sheets of paper and 21.840 kJ less energy use annually. If we also consider that the sheets of paper not used are not produced, we would be saving 358.800 kJ of energy. |
| 1905-001 | Justin Buzzard | Reduce paper for new hire orientation | Problem: A analysis showed that most of the New Hires simply threw away most of the handouts they receive during New Hires Orientation. Average use of paper for each new hire in class is 147 pages with 30 new hires a month (average) = 4410 pages a month = 52,920 pages a year.
Solution: Through a brainstorming session, it was identified that moving to digital files would reduce ink and paper costs, along with the environmental impact. Summary of savings on both papers and ink for 12 month were $11,005 USD. |
| 1907-001 | Taiabur Rahman | Reduce water usage for garment washing | Problem: Excess usage of water in the Garments washing shop floor consumes 25.4 liters per piece in consumption. Project setup to implement cost savings, as well as reductions in water and energy.
Solution: Through 5s, brainstorming and 5 Why’s analysis, he was able to help eliminate excess washing of garments and reduce water demand by 15%, or 4.1 liters per piece. The improvements involved implementation of water meters and levels on each line, measuring and recording of liquor ratio, and the use of a waterless direct softener injection system. |
| 1908-001 | Joe Wojniak | Reduce landfill charges and waste through modified donation scheduling | Problem:
The thrift shop Donations Room was chronically congested with more donations than could be sorted and priced each week. This made it difficult to receive new donations and to move sorted & priced items to the sales floor. Trash hauling charges were also high, around $1300 per month.
Solution: The revised donation policy has improved the quality of donations, and reduced the amount of items going to the landfill, and saved about $500 per month in trash hauling charges. |
