The article in the url below charts the turnaround of Xerox by CEO (now Chair) Anne Mulcahy. When Mulcahy became Xerox’s CEO in 2001 the firm was:
“… more than $17 billion in debt and had lost $20 billion in stock-market value between April 1999 and May 2000. The company faced the very real prospect of bankruptcy. Yet by 2005, Xerox had gone from a $273 million annual loss to a $978 million gain.”
The focus of Mulcahy’s turnaround was integrating sustainability throughout all aspects of operations:
“The company set a goal of "producing waste-free products in waste-free facilities to promote waste-free offices for our customers."”
What does that mean in practice?
“"We had these warehouses full of old copiers, and our repair teams were cannibalizing them for parts," says Calkins. "And then we realized that if we design our products with remanufacturing in mind from the get-go, we could be moving quickly toward zero waste... Our goal was to get to 90% reusability."”
Importantly, rather than “downcycling,” where recycled materials are converted into different products of lower quality (think old sneaker soles converted by Nike into safe playground surfaces for children), Xerox focused on “remanufacturing”—re-using parts and materials in new replacement products and designing recyclable parts as integral components of any new products:
“So Xerox's first step was to help develop an international standard for remanufacturing to guarantee quality so that customers would know they were receiving a fully functioning product.”
Another important shift was to move to:
“… total-life costing to reflect the fact that, while initial costs were higher, the company would save money as the parts were used over and over.”
The results are impressive:
“Today, … the company has a 91% recycling rate for its copiers. The company has saved millions of dollars through its remanufacturing efforts, and its zero-waste initiative has brought the company closer to the needs of its customers.”
Take care
David
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
© Sage Publications, 2006
Carbon Copy
How Xerox Tapped the Power of Reuse
Fast Company Magazine
From: Issue 137 | July 2009 | Page 60 | By: Adam Werbach
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/137/green-business-carbon-copy.html
