GP starts as a strategy for enhancing productivity and environmental performance for overall socioeconomic development. It is the application of appropriate productivity and environmental management tools, techniques, and technologies to reduce the environmental impact of an organization’s activities, goods, and services. GP is a method by which any enterprise, large or small, can understand what it is they do or have that impacts the environment, reduces their efficiency, adds cost, and suppresses their productivity.

In its formal definition, GP uses three terms and phrases:

– strategy

– productivity and environmental performance

– socioeconomic development

Building on its strategic foundation, GP focuses on enhancing profitability through combined improvements in productivity and environmental performance. This engenders an important mind shift from the environment as a cost or externality to an asset and opportunity for increasing efficiency and profitability. The power of this mind shift is not to be underestimated. When excessive use of resources and materials or generation of pollution is seen as a manifestation of lower productivity as well as poor environmental performance, these are seen as manufacturing defects that need to be consistently corrected. The next level of GP offers the logical method drawn from quality management and provides practical tools and techniques. The knowledge and approaches under the umbrella of GP can help companies attack their productivity challenges with increased confidence, leading to a better bottom line and competitive advantage.

GP follows through on the strategic framework by seeking technical and managerial interventions, based on the concept of continual improvement. Asia’s strength in implementing and improving through the cyclical nature of quality management has been an asset in the initiation of GP.

Another important factor along with this mind shift is a transition from end-of-pipe thinking to design for the environment. Design changes necessitate R&D, and this evolves the response of a company from concentrating on the cost of clean-up to the excitement of innovating new products and services. This is a critical crossover, as innovation is a primary driver of economic growth. Making products and services greener as a condition of innovation is significant. It excites business, motivates investors, intrigues employees, and attracts consumers. Government has a role to play in fostering this crossover. Government policy is an important force to remove barriers to innovation and to think sensibly about supporting new technologies that enhance rather than degrade the environment.

GP is being aided by the shift to a demand-side market. As consumers have more money, they are asking for products with environmental sensitivity be it shade tree coffee, recycled paper stock, cars with lower emissions, or greener energy sources. The lucrative lure of the market is a carrot. As markets demand greener products and services, GP helps to push the supply side by providing a logical process and practical tools and techniques by which this transformation can be accomplished.

In six simple steps an enterprise can examine and evaluate both its production processes and products to reduce their environmental impacts and highlight ways to improve productivity and product quality. Implementation of these options leads to another cycle of review and so promotes continuous improvement.

The six principle steps of GP methodology are:

Getting started is an easy task. Identifying the people who are going to be involved and forming a GP team marks the beginning. These people, led by a champion, walk through and survey the site or facility and record first impressions. This allows the team to gather baseline data and identify areas where there may be a problem. This data-gathering activity is made even easier through the use of Eco-mapping, a simple, visual, practical tool for gathering, analyzing, and managing environmental performance, which is especially suited to smaller enterprises. It is vital to have senior management’s buy-in to ensure that adequate resources are available for successful implementation.

Planning allows an organization to utilize the information gained in the first step to analyze the potential for improvement, along with tools such as material balance, benchmarking, eco-mapping, and fishbone diagrams. Objectives and targets can be established and performance indicators identified to help guide the improvement process, allowing the company to manage and measure progress.

Generation and evaluation of GP options involve the development of options to meet the objectives and targets formulated in planning. They require a review of prevention of pollution and application of existing or new control procedures to support the development of options to enhance productivity. Options are screened against performance indicators. Those most likely to net the economic and technical results desired are given first priority; the company is now ready for action.

Implementation of GP options involves two actions, preparation and execution. Preparatory work includes awareness building, training, and the development of competencies. If new equipment and systems are required, these are installed along with the operator instruction and hands-on training to ensure success.

Monitoring and review of the new GP options are vital to see that they are producing or exceeding the anticipated results. This includes monitoring the whole system to ensure that it is on track and performing as designed. Findings are reported for review by management.

Sustaining GP requires action to correct where necessary or to build on existing success. Having a feedback loop is essential to keep progress on track and to respond to the changing circumstances imposed by internal and external drivers including customer expectations, the environment, and other innovations that may accelerate the greening of productivity.

Implementing GP methodology requires integrating and applying a number of key environmental management and productivity improvement tools and techniques. GP tools and techniques provide clues and directions for the generation of options and enable their systematic implementation. Different tools and techniques are used at different steps of the GP implementation process (see steps in the table below).

Tools

Starting out
At the start of the GP process, flowcharts and process flow diagrams provide a graphic method of representing activities, processes, and material flows. A material balance based on a process flow diagram allows for the quantitative assessment of material inputs and outputs.

Highlighting problems
Benchmarking is often used to identify gaps in performance by comparing the current achievements of a department or company against what others have done. Brainstorming and concentration diagrams help in the identification of the possible root causes of problems and for data collection. Ishikawa cause-and-effect analysis is another problem-solving tool used to uncover the reasons behind problems. It gives a graphic representation of cause and effects, allowing a problem to be fully analyzed.
Environmental problems can be identified using eco-mapping, a simple and practical visual tool that provides a bird’s-eye view of a company’s operations and thus a quick inventory of practices and problems. Pareto analysis is another graphic tool used to isolate key problems that are causing the most significant impact. Check-sheets are used for collecting data over time to show trends and recurring problems, and control charts are used to show deviations and variability in performance.

Finding solutions
GP options are generated and assessed using techniques such as brainstorming and cost-benefit analysis which facilitate the comparison of alternatives in terms of the monetary costs involved and the benefits that can be obtained. Typically the tools are used in feasibility studies, often in conjunction with audits, for the selection of alternative options. As options are implemented, spider-web diagrams provide a visual way of showing progress and performance against several targets at once.

GP Steps, Tasks, and Tools

Techniques

GP techniques are used to bring about the changes that will result in better environmental performance and improved productivity. They range from simple housekeeping techniques to designing “green” products.

Good housekeeping
GP techniques include awareness programs and the 5S management techniques that focus on keeping processes, equipment, workplaces, and workforces organized, neat, clean, standardized, and disciplined. Other good housekeeping techniques relate to measures that prevent the loss of materials, minimize waste, conserve and save energy, and improve operational and organizational procedures.

Design change
The environmental impact of a product is to a large extent determined by its design. By taking environmental considerations into account during product planning, design, and development and thus designing environmentally compatible products, a company can minimize the negative impact of its products and processes on the environment.

Process modification
Process modification is a key GP technique that encompasses both simple and more complex changes, from replacing inefficient or old processes with new technology to totally changing the production process used. Such alterations can also involve energy conservation techniques such as the use of efficient appliances and the reuse and recycling of heat.

Waste management
Waste stream segregation and the promotion of recycling, reuse, and recovery are two broad techniques used to reduce the amount of waste a company produces and to improve waste disposal. Offsite recycling is often implemented if onsite recovery and reuse of resources are not feasible. Often substantial improvements can be made in the nature and quantity of waste produced by the substitution or purification of some material inputs.