Video Transcript

If you’re a facilities manager, Director of Operations, or COO, you deal with almost everything happening at your facility on a daily basis. And if you oversee more than one facility, your tasks and responsibilities are even greater.

In this week’s Two-Minute Tuesday, we’re going to dive into energy concerns specific to you and share some energy tips for facilities and operations managers that make the process easier for you.

Concern #1: Ease of Procurement Process

One of your concerns is that you need the procurement process to be as easy as possible.

With all you have going on, you don’t have time to sift through mounds of paperwork or charts or spend hours considering every option.

To make the process easier on yourself, consider working with an energy broker or an energy advisor.

They’ll do the heavy lifting for you — requesting pricing, communicating with suppliers, and comparing supplier offerings. Based on their findings, they’ll give you a proposal that clearly states their recommendation based on your facility’s needs.

Concern #2: Efficiency

You also want your facility to be operating as efficiently as possible to reduce your bottom line. Old or outdated machinery could be using more energy than necessary and causing you to be over budget.

To combat this, have an audit performed on your facility to identify possible inefficiencies. The audit will identify both immediate and long-term opportunities for you to lower your energy usage.

And as an added bonus, many utilities currently offer efficiency incentives, reducing your overall project cost.

Concern #3: Budget Adherence and Risk Avoidance

Another important aspect of your job is making sure you’re adhering to your budget.

Can you explain to your CFO why your projected energy costs were ten percent over budget? Are you sure it was due to increased production? What if it was something else?

Taking unnecessary risks with your energy can easily blow up your budget, and you don’t have time to examine the details of every available energy product.

An energy advisor or broker is well-versed in supplier product options and can help you select the one that makes the most sense for your facility. This should be based on your production schedule, sustainability requirements, and any upcoming energy efficiency projects.

Concern #4: Looking for Competitive Advantages

Lastly, you’re looking for ways to give your facility a competitive advantage.

In addition to a strong procurement strategy and doing efficiency projects, consider enrolling in a Demand Response program.

Facilities that choose to participate earn money for voluntarily reducing their usage during test events and peak usage times. The more you can curtail, the higher your payout, and the more funds you have at your disposal for site upgrades.

 

As a facilities or operations manager, you deal with so many variables every day. Your energy consumption and spend is an important aspect of this, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming.

Keep these energy tips for facilities in mind when looking at your next project or agreement.

Thank you for watching! If you found this video helpful, please feel free to share it with other operations folks, then like or comment below.