Chrysler’s Brampton Assembly Plant saves millions with energy efficiency practices

Chrysler Group’s Brampton Assembly Plant (BAP) is the first automotive assembly plant in Canada to achieve ISO 50001 energy management standards certification by TÜV, an international certification organization. And thanks to the plant’s energy efficiency practices, it has saved millions of dollars along the way.

ISO 50001 includes globally recognized requirements for energy management systems, which are an important element of energy performance and greenhouse gas reduction.

BAP’s achievements in energy management range from lighting control projects developed and implemented by plant electricians 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.

“I am extremely proud of the staff at Brampton Assembly Plant who worked tirelessly to help us achieve ISO 50001: 2011 Energy Management standards certification,” said Dan Omahen, plant manager, Brampton Assembly Plant, Chrysler Group LLC. “This experience has proven that when employees rally together, and work alongside management and agency partners, sustainable solutions can be identified that help us improve energy optimization and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

Chrysler Group adopted World Class Manufacturing (WCM) as its operating system in 2009 as part of its alliance with Fiat. First implemented by Fiat in 2006, WCM is a methodology that focuses on reducing waste, increasing productivity, and improving quality and safety in a systematic and organized way. WCM engages the workforce to provide and implement suggestions on how to improve their jobs and their plants. WCM has become the driving force behind the improvements in all of Chrysler Group’s manufacturing plants with four facilities achieving Bronze status, a significant milestone in the WCM process, in 2012.

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.