Since the first certified environmental management systems (EMS) emerged in the early to mid-nineties, there has been an increasing interest in their use within the furniture manufacturing sector. Improved environmental management means lower risk, and higher potential for cost savings, which go straight to increasing profit while reducing emissions and subsequent pollution.
Implementing an EMS enables continual improvement, not only at the production facility but also through influencing suppliers and designing the product for eventual disposal at the end of life.
Making improvements through the implementation of lean manufacturing and operations relies on the ability to measure performance. It is important to be able to measure both before and after any activities as this provides tangible evidence of the impact that these activities will have on the business.
This article is a beginners guide to performance measurement
In effect, measurement is important for:
When analysing a business it is important to see things from multiple points of view and consideration needs to be given to:
Getting performance measurement right first time is essential. Wrong measures drive you in wrong behavioural directions, too few measures give unbalanced approaches to company performance and too many measures confuse and stop real action.
Key performance measures must be simple, concise and effective. They must take a balanced view and are likely to include many of the following:
Of course, measurement and benchmarking are not the be-all and end-all of process improvement. Actions are key to the success of the company concerned. It is important to measure the effect of any intervention or action, collate by sector within the business and disseminate the results. World Class Targets need to be established with a view to continuous improvement.
An overview document alongside an editable KPI template which incorporates waste, supply chains, timber, packaging, energy, and community relations to help organisations understand and improve their sustainability performance
The Furniture Industry Research Association presents the wide ranging aspects of a sustainability hotspot analysis by researching and contextualising the commercial, reputational and material source risks that exist within supply chains.
Report summarising the finding of a project which compares the potential of remanufactured furniture versus brand new product, carried out in collaboration with Orangebox.