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Episode 02 – Status Update: Simplified Audit

Posted on:9 June 2023

Welcome to TETRIS, towards factory 4.0!

In this first season, you will discover our 5-step roadmap to improve the environmental performance of your factory.
Here are the 5 steps:

Step 1 – Assessment to prepare the ground effectively.

Step 2 – Detailed analysis, where we will explore your factory thoroughly.

Step 3 – Adjustments to optimize your factory’s performance.

Step 4 – Guidelines and master plan to define and structure your ideal factory.

Step 5 – Continuous improvement to sustain your environmental performance.

In just one sentence, can you tell us Sébastien what a simplified audit consists of?

It is about assessing the environmental performance maturity of each site. So why simplify? Because it is not a detailed audit and we will collect initial data, whether it is consumption, energy, or production. Every factory knows its monthly energy consumption, as it is what we call the bill. Therefore, the factory will have at least monthly data. We will also collect production data, which can be either tons of finished products, or it can be a bit more detailed with tons of finished products per product type.

After collecting this data, what can we do next?

Then, the simplified audit involves interviewing various stakeholders within the company: management, the management control department which will focus on energy through budgeting and monitoring of invoices. It will also involve technical interviews with maintenance, technical services, and environmental managers.

It seems that there are also interviews to be conducted with people who are on the field, in the factory, the production teams, is that correct?

Absolutely, interviews with production to understand their energy or water needs for production and to see their vision on these subjects. It is the production workshops that consume all energies and utilities. All these utilities are consumed by the process.

The goal is to assess the environmental performance maturity of the sites and to know if we are at the stage where we pay our bills or if we have already implemented things (are we already ISO 50001?). These are very different stages.

Do some factories already have an energy referent who takes care of all these topics?

Indeed, the presence of an energy reference already shows a certain level of maturity in an industrial site. I am still surprised, after 25 years of experience in the field of energy efficiency, to see factories today that still consider energy simply as a bill. They pay their bills and therefore have no commitment to energy and environmental performance.

What is the main benefit of improving the energy and environmental performance of an industrial site?

Energy and environmental performance is primarily seen from a financial perspective. By improving energy performance, reducing energy and water consumption, all of this ultimately translates into euros.

How long does it take to complete a simplified audit?

It takes one, two or three days, but it depends on the complexity of the plant. In one day, simplified audits have already been completed. What can influence is the size of the site and its complexity.

Is the simplified audit mandatory?

No, it is not a requirement. It is not a regulatory audit. The simplified audit for us is more of an assessment phase, but “simplified”. The goal is to assess, in a short amount of time, the maturity level regarding environmental performance.

Who can handle the simplified audit and what are the required skills?

To conduct a simplified audit, you need an expert who will quickly understand the factory, ask relevant questions to various stakeholders, and have the ability to synthesize all this data.

In summary

The initial mapping is the division of a factory into blocks. This division into blocks becomes your standard to be imposed when an external or internal actor comes to analyze your factory.

The initial mapping allows you to have a synthetic and global view of all the processes and flows of your factory.

It allows you to:

1. Visualize all the elements that make up the factory, from raw materials to finished products, including processes and utilities.
2. Finally, it lays the groundwork for defining THE standard of your factory.

In short, the initial mapping is the starting point of your industrial environmental transition approach.