DuPont's Sustainable Operations Management Solutions
In a global environment where economic change and technological disruptions can have a significant impact on the safety and continuity of organisations and their global supply chains, DuPont has been consulting with leading firms from various strands of industry. At first, this was done as a single corporate entity, but more recent activity has occurred through the work of a separate organisation specifically dedicated to promoting sustainability.
Setting A Specific Path for Sustainability
On September 3rd , 2019, DuPont Sustainable Solutions (DSS) declared its presence as an independent global operations management consulting firm. The announcement confirmed a new phase in a relationship several decades in the making.
In the words of Davide Vassallo, CEO of DuPont Sustainable Solutions: “For over 50 years, DuPont and DuPont Sustainable Solutions together have been helping to make the world a safer place by collaborating with and implementing solutions for clients.”
He went further to observe that as an independent firm, “DSS will now have increased flexibility and agility to provide its industry-leading consulting services and bring innovative solutions to market faster for our clients.”
Those clients include leading organisations from a variety of disciplines. DuPont Sustainable Solutions draws on the established DuPont heritage, on deep industry and business process expertise, and on a diverse team of expert consultants to assist clients in turning operations management to their competitive advantage. The company has already recorded several notable successes through its consultation and collaboration with various industry leaders.
How DSS Helped Pirelli UK to Establish A Sustainable Safety System
It was in 2009 at its production site near Turin in Italy, that Pirelli first began working with DuPont. In 2013 the tyre manufacturing giant contracted DuPont to develop a corporate cultural change programme dubbed “Excellence in Safety” for 13 of its 19 factories worldwide.
Realising that most accidents occur due to human behaviour, Pirelli looked to DuPont to help create a sustainable culture of accident prevention and safety awareness. As a first step, DuPont consultants spent a week at the two Pirelli UK plants in Burton and Carlisle, interviewing operators, site managers, unions, and contractors.
In all, Pirelli spent three years working with DuPont on a governance set-up, tools, and education to change mind-sets and promote behaviour regarding safety. Working together, the two organisations created a central safety committee to oversee all functions in Pirelli UK, with task teams to work on specific issues, safety training for employees, and safety champions distributed among the workforce.
DuPont also provided training for Pirelli line management - from senior managers right through to front line supervisors. Pirelli supervisors are encouraged to take the initiative, developing and instigating new ways of working. As a result, safety has improved, in line with efficiency and output. In 2016, Pirelli reached an injury Frequency Index (FI) of 0.36 with a reduction of 80%, compared to 2009.
How General Mills Turned to DSS to Transform Its Safety Culture
As a global food company home to leading brands like Haagen-Dazs and Pillsbury, General Mills realised that to meet increasingly high customer demands for food safety, the health of its own business depends on the safety and health of its employees.
Making a global investment in safety, General Mills turned to DuPont Sustainable Solutions (DSS), to assess and improve its workplace safety culture. The initial engagement involved teaching people to be better at safety, with senior management as the first audience.
Based on the results from a survey of 15,000 employees, the two organisations created a multi-year strategy to foster a customised safety management and training capability. To date, General Mills has conducted over 2 million safety contacts, training over 1,000 team leaders and 5,000 employees.
The company’s goal is to achieve a “zero-loss culture” which eliminates all losses from its business, including safety incidents. To this end and with the consultative assistance of DSS, General Mills established company-wide safety standards in 2015, providing specific safety requirements, and setting out risk assessment methods at production facilities.
DSS provided General Mills with coaching to strengthen its supply chain safety structure, and to build its capacity for safety expertise in leadership. Over the years from 2011-2018, General Mills has seen a 52% reduction in injuries.
How DuPont Sustainable Solutions Helped Saudi Arabia’s Saline Water Conversion Corporation to Transform Its Operations
Currently the global leader in seawater desalination and the second largest electricity producer in the KSA, Saudi Arabia’s Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) is responsible for supplying the kingdom’s population with both drinking water and electricity.
As part of Saudi Arabia’s 2030 Vision, the SWCC chose DuPont Sustainable Solutions to help them find ways to optimise operations and reduce production costs, while establishing a mind-set of operational safety.
DSS carried out a range of operational assessments at four of SWCC’s most critical desalination plants and water transmission systems. From its findings, DSS began identifying opportunities to increase water output and decrease production costs from fuel and electricity.
An extensive evaluation allowed DSS and SWCC to identify quantifiable improvements that would reduce each facility’s water production losses and optimise costs. As a result, the SWCC has improved availability in its desalination system by 12%, from 84% to 96%, and is looking to increase that to 98%, in a sustainable manner.
Charting the Way for A Sustainable Future
DuPont Sustainable Solutions currently employs more than 900 experienced operations executives and consultants worldwide, and expects to expand its workforce and geographic footprint as client needs grow.
By combining industry best practices, proven methodologies, and the latest thinking in operations management, DSS looks to optimise business outcomes by partnering and consulting for leading organisations across a range of industries, including Oil & Gas, Chemicals, Petrochemicals, Building & Construction, Food & Beverage, Mining & Metals, Utilities and Transportation.