If company does not want to look at energy use, it’s a good moment to ask “Why is that?” What issues management chooses not to be aware of?

This post was inspired by the shortest blog post I have read to date. It came from Seth Godin:

The problem you can’t talk about … is now two problems.

That’s all of it. You do not even need to read the the original post. Short + Smart = Brilliant!

This concept has a profound implication for industrial management. That’s right: we are not talking just energy management, it’s about management in general. Since energy is blood of industry, tracking its use equates monitoring the production process. Constantly. Consistently. With actionable reports.

Avoiding energy use monitoring may signal problems that are much bigger, than energy intensity.

Is something happening in the way different from prescribed technology? at the wrong time? Not doing it at all?

Does production process follow the technology consistently? Is quality assured? Is safety assured?

And ultimate, CEO-level questions: Is company run in a way that assures the lowest cost and risks? Any risks to brand value, to shareholders? 

Here is a couple of examples of how looking at energy may help uncover serious issues:

  • increase of electricity use at refrigeration warehouse may mean that shipment door are open longer; aside from energy in refrigeration and air handling in food warehouse open doors lead to infiltration of bugs and uneven storage temperature, may signal smoking at bay doors or just luck of discipline
  • increase of gas usage at baking oven may signal deviation from baking technology leading to sub-par quality of final product