Staples - Working with the Best Programs... and Making Them Better.
Staples is the world's largest office products company, with over $24 billion in sales, serving in 25 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Staples invented the office superstore concept in 1986 and with its acquisition of Corporate Express in July 2008, reinforced its dominance of the business-to-business market as well. With a dynamic corporate culture and an established tradition of operational excellence and continuous improvement, it is not surprising that Staples has been a leader in the retail world in areas of energy efficiency and corporate sustainability for over a decade.
The Staples energy management program, led by Bob Valair, started working with Burton Energy Group in early 2009 to help supplement its already leading edge program – Making the best, better. The relationship started with a few simple projects, such as assisting Staples with enrollment and participation in the Massachusetts Clean Energy Challenge and investigating the benefits of increasing Staples' use of ENERGY STAR® tools. Staples was wrapping up their award-winning LEAN Six Sigma Black program that substantially reduced their retail store electric consumption, and looking for the next set of goals and strategies to energize the program and continue their momentum.
"Burton Energy Group's approach to the strategic assessment and planning process helped to identify areas for additional improvement and has proven to be a great partner to Staples by assisting us in turning those ideas to action."
Bob Valair
Director of Energy and Environmental Management, Staples
Staples engaged Burton Energy Group, led by partners Mark Breuker and Tim Leigh, in their strategic assessment and planning process. The initial goal was simply to improve the approach to managing the wide variety of vendor partners that served the Staples program, but quickly grew into a holistic program review and establishment of a 3-5 year energy strategic plan. "Burton Energy Group's strategic assessment and planning process helped to identify areas for additional improvement. They have proven to be a great partner to Staples by also assisting us in turning those ideas to action. They respond quickly to the challenges that we set before them with a customized, personal approach to delivery," states Bob Valair. Leveraging the experience that Mark and Tim had accumulated from their years of experience in the energy management field and with business process optimization, they worked closely with Staples to craft a strategic plan that included a prioritization of new initiatives, estimated business return on investment, and tactics designed to take the Staples program to the next level. The plan addressed a number of areas including:
Burton Energy Group's Strategic Assessment and Planning Process
- Energy Conservation and Energy Awareness
- Risk Management Strategies
- Inclusion of International Operations
- Communicating Externally to Further Improve Staples Brand
The plan established aggressive goals to measure the success of the new initiatives in areas such as energy cost reduction and increasing the number of locations to receive the ENERGY STAR award, and provided a business case for additional resources to deliver on these goals.
With the plan presented and approved by the Staples leadership team, Burton Energy Group stepped up to not only establish and communicate the strategy, but to also help drive the implementation of that strategy. Initial wins have included Staples recognition as a finalist for the Platts Energy Efficiency program of the year, successful pilot rollout of the Black Belt kWh reduction program for distribution centers yielding more than 10% reduction in energy consumption, and rollout of initiatives that result in more rapid feedback for on site energy performance through analysis and reporting of interval data. "We are thrilled to be part of the Staples energy management team and have them as one of our first retail clients. Their passion for sustainability and willingness to set aggressive goals and provide the company support to achieve those goals is a perfect match for the kind of company we have set out to build," says Mark Breuker, Partner of Burton Energy Group.
