- 04 September, 2008 04:46 PM EST
- Green Innovation Proves to Deliver More Green to the Bottom Line
I went to a talk last week at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. The speaker at the U.S.'s oldest and largest public affairs forum was Albert Straus from Straus Family Creamery in Marshall, CA. (The Straus Family Creamery is an organic and kosher dairy that makes varieties of yogurt, milk, ice cream and European-style butters that are available at natural and specialty food retailers throughout the 11 western states..)
I'm sure you are wondering, what does a dairy farm have to do with innovation and business process improvement? For the award-winning Straus Family Creamery, the answer is, most everything! I left the talk believing that Straus was not only a visionary but that he also embodied the true spirit of innovation. He reaffirmed my belief that processes are a systemic part of every business and a relentless pursuit of continuous improvement results in innovation and a positive impact to bottom line results. Okay, so I'm a process geek!
The diary is 100% organic. Its tagline is "Local. Organic. Sustainable." This has prompted the relentless pursuit of continuous improvement to maximize the quality of its products and minimize the impact on the environment. Most everything (aka processes) at the dairy has been reinvented, each with impressive results. Here are a few examples:
- Cows are milked three (vs. two) times a day. The results are a 15% increase in milk production per cow, plus a lot of contact with the cows to assess their health and to spot any issues at the first sign.
- Milk is placed in glass bottles that carry a deposit and are reused by the dairy an average of eight times. The creamery has an 80% return rate. Straus estimates that the bottle reuse has saved 4 million pounds of waste from going to the dump.
- Straus also has installed a "methane digester." This is a large pond in which cow waste is put. It is filled with bacteria that eat the cow waste. The waste is converted into electricity that powers 90% of the dairy's needs.
- Cow waste powers the truck that feeds the cows, creating a new process that Straus coins "Poop to Power."
Still, these innovations, plus many more amazing feats, have resulted in an impressive double-digit increase in profitability for the creamery during the past 15 years. A vision, the passion to achieve it and a commitment to sustainability has proved to be a winning formula. On his most recent visit to the U.S., Prince Charles of the U.K. visited the creamery - an impressive recognition for a small dairy by a renowned champion of the organic farming movement.
The creamery's innovative mind-set, while not simple, can be ported to any business situation. It doesn't require endless amounts of money, complicated technologies or hordes of people.
While Straus doesn’t reference BPM specifically, I strongly believe that BPM can be a powerful weapon to "green" your processes, produce bottom-line results and win positive brand recognition. Expect to see more Gartner coverage on the "greening of BPM."
