WINDSOR, ontario — Chryslers Brampton Assembly Plant (BAP) has achieved ISO 50001: 2011 “Energy Management” standards certification by TÜV, an international certification organization. According to the company, they are the first automotive assembly plant in Canada to achieve the certification.
The ISO 50001 standard was introduced in 2011, and includes globally recognized requirements for energy management systems, which improve energy performance and greenhouse gas reduction.
The initiatives range from lighting control projects (at an estimated savings of $110,000 in annual electricity costs), to investment in an automated heating and ventilation management system and scheduler with an estimated savings of almost $2 million in annual electricity and natural gas costs, while also reducing excess negative exhaust by 1,200,000 cubic feet per minute.
BAP served as the pilot plant for ISO 50001 certification among Chrysler Group’s North American automotive assembly plants. The remaining plants are expected to be certified by the end of 2014. BAP had previously achieved certification against a number of international standards, among them ISO 9001 for Quality and ISO 14001 for Environmental Management.
Chrysler adopted World Class Manufacturing (WCM) as its operating system in 2009 as part of its alliance with Fiat.
WCM was first implemented in 2006, and focuses on reducing waste, increasing productivity, and improving quality and safety in a systematic and organized way.
As part of the WCM Environment activities at BAP, the plant established a cross-functional energy management team that included skilled trades staff and managers as well as local utility companies who offered suggestions and explored various improvement ideas. This team approach to continuous improvement lent itself well to the ISO 50001 Significant Energy User (SEU) concept, which aims to improve the plant’s energy performance.
Chrysler Group’s BAP partnered with Enbridge Gas and the Federal Ministry of Natural Resources for many of these initiatives.
