Saving the Environment and the Bottom Line - Essay Example

Effective production with minimized cost Production firms and business parastatal are essential elements in the economic progress of any nation. They provide income to the people and improve the living standards of an economic production is facilitated by various industries and companies. This production also leads to exploitation of raw materials that could otherwise have remained idle and useless to the community. Early companies and industries used to maximize their production levels by maximizing the exploitation of the resources.

They did not mind the future of the industry. This was because they saw these resources abundant, having a mentality that their existence will remain forever. Due to the above mentioned aspect, there has being progressive extinction of the resources affecting the progress of the todays industries. This has called for environmental friendly production methods to prevent diverse future impacts of such. At least , 98％ of the current industries have devised ways of conserving the environment for the future generation.

They have also devised ways of minimizing the exploitation of the resources involved in production of their goods or services. Many industries have set their targets towards economic production scale - use of as least as possible of inputs (resources) to attain maximum production (Harrison, Laurie, Mitch, & Ranita, pg. 135). For instance, the Hospitality industry, that includes Hotel and lodging, have also taken the same phase of production. These departments of production are working towards the minimization of production cost, by reducing costs in electricity, water and reducing waste generation.

This will assist the successive progression of the industry simply because the minimization of production cost will definitely lead to increased profits from the production. The little saved can also be used to expand the industry. This cost saving will be effected by the managerial systems of the firm. Assuming that I am a manager of Xavier Hotel, i would also advocate for the same. Having called by the GM to discuss the new direction of the company towards sustainable production, i would major my auditing on various components of production such as water used in the rooms, the electricity, heating and cooling cost, and minimization of the waste production.

The establishment of the cost saving project might to some appear expensive and costly, but it will at later (when it picks) lead to savings and reduction of the input cost. Taking my department to be having 375 rooms, the expected number of visitors daily is 675 (in a case of all 300 rooms being double-can accommodate two people and 75 being single). The excepted water consumption per individual, in terms of taking a shower and drinking is 25 gallons daily. However, over 35 gallons have been consumed by an individual daily due to lake of control systems.

Some occupants in the rooms also leave the taps running. The water consumption can be reduced through installation of automated water control systems in each room, which will automatically disconnect the water supply system immediately one exhausts their expected amount. The company will end up saving at least 12 gallons per individual on daily bases, giving a total of 8100 gallons saved daily. Annually, a total of 2,956,500 gallons of water will have been saved. Taking the cost of 1000 gallons of water to be $5.

72, the hotel would have saved ＄16,911.1 annual. This can even cater for the installation cost of the automatic water control systems which are of estimated cost ＄7,800, inclusive of their monthly checkup and repair cost. However, this will require prior notification to the customers on the amount of water they are expected to consume, and a prior warning by the automatic system before the water supply is disconnected. Other measures like reminding the customers to turn the taps off when not in use may also be imposed to facilitate the cost saving process.

The workers should also minimize excessive use of water during the washing of the beddings and the rooms (Spurks, pg. 89). The hotel also has another operation cost incurred in energy - Electricity. The electricity in this hotel is used lighting, cooling of drinks, moving the elevator, opening the automated doors, running the communication systems - Internet rooter, running the televisions within the rooms and other electronic devices such as water pumps, generators and reception computing systems.

Various measures can be imposed to minimize the electricity cost. The electricity saving, measures may include alternative sources of electricity such as solar and wind power. These sources of power are not only cost efficient but also environmental friendly. After installation of the system, no other cost will be incurred, unless in cases of collapsing of the systems, which is very rare. No power men will be seen around the company each end-month, reading the power meters and collecting the average ＄15,500 collected monthly for electricity bills.

This project will cost ＄145,000 but will totally save the ＄15,500 monthly electricity bill which amounts to ＄186,000-annual electricity cost. Other alternative methods for saving the electricity cost will include use of energy saver bulbs in all the rooms. Alternative ways of getting to the rooms in the upper floors may also be devised. Such methods may include use of stairs instead of elevator in cases of few people getting to the upper rooms. The reduction of the water consumption will also lead to reduced pumping cost which uses electricity.

Introduction of the modern technological devices which are power efficient like modern television screens, modern computers and backup systems will also reduce the cost spend by the lodge on electricity (Kutz, pg. 78). Xavier Hotel has also been undertaking heating and cooling. This process involves use of electricity. During the cold weather, the room heater improves the temperatures within the room, while the room coolers reduce the temperatures within the room during hot weather. Bathing water is also heated in hot-shower.

The rooms also contain refrigerators and freezers that are used by the occupants to cool drinks. This heating and cooling system can be made effective by use of the modern cooling and heating systems, which are more effective in their working. They are also energy friendly. The modern systems are also automated in a way, to switch off and on in cases of excessive heat above the set limits. Solid wastes released from the lodge makes an additional cost on the production. The disposal process of these wastes i costly.

The recycle process of these wastes also needs special plants that may be expensive to install. Solid wastes are disposed in forms of waste papers from wrappers, food left -overs and other unwanted materials that may come with the customers. Theses wastes are disposed in dustbins within the rooms and later the bins emptied during the cleaning of the rooms. The solid waste can be reduced by various ways. Some of the wastes are papers. These papers can be burned within the inceneretor outside the lodge.

Other solid wastes may be reused. These wastes are like water bottles. Waste products can also be used for commercial purpose - to generate additional income. A collection of the bottles can be sold to the recycling industries. The waste papers can also be sold to recycling companies such as the tissue company. This will not only reduce their disposal waste, but also generate an additional income to the lodge. The waste removal cost is again a ‘headache’ to the input cost. This can best be defined as a liability to the lodge.

However, the removal cost of the waste can be minimized by one very simple method. - Installation of a biogas digester. This will ensure recycling of solid waste from the latrines. These wastes can be processed through decomposition to get organic manure, which can be sold to the agricultural farms. The biogas digester will also generate an additional energy to the firm, which can be used for cooking. This process also conserves the environment through prevention of pollution. In conclusion, any production firm cannot improve its production by focusing on the production methods without having a focus on the input expenses.

Minimizing the expenses incurred on the inputs such as energy, employees and other resources like water will greatly reduce the production cost. Having a consideration of waste use, rather than waste disposal will not only conserve the environment for the future generation but also make an additional income to the firm. Work cited Kutz, Myer. Environmentally Conscious Alternative Energy Production. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley, 2007. Print. Sparks, T. Solid-liquid Filtration: A Users Guide to Minimizing Cost & Environmental Impact, Maximizing Quality & Productivity.

Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2012. Internet resource. Harrison, Ken, Laurie Barth, Mitch Lebrovich, and Ranita Wyatt. Production & Cost. New York: Distributed by Insight Media, 2000. Web.