Unlocking Industrial Resource Productivity: 5 Core Beliefs to Increase Profits through Energy, Material, and Water Efficiency

McKinsey Publishing, 2016 | Markus Hammer and Ken Somers

This is a handbook for leaders of industrial manufacturers and other process industries seeking to increase their energy, material, and water efficiency. It rests on nearly a decade of research on resource productivity and on deep experience helping companies transform their operations for greater efficiency. We’ve seen countless times how feasible it is to transform processes or facilities, leading to improved efficiency in energy use and yield, and generating clear financial benefits—often with little or no capital expenditure. To capture these gains, however, organizations need a better approach to resource productivity. They need to embed new ways of thinking—core beliefs—in their management teams, workforces, and organizational cultures. This book introduces those beliefs and explains their application through case studies, conceptual frameworks, and analytic techniques. It is intended to help company leaders, from the executive team down to the managers and shift supervisors of individual plants, seize those opportunities and gain a true competitive edge.