Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) has consistently demonstrated the benefits of an energy management system and this is evident in the recognition received, both locally and internationally. This time, in the form of an award by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) as a Global Industry Leader of the UNIDO Energy Management Programme.
“Energy management forms an integral part of our manufacturing process. This is a prestigious award and we are proud that our efforts into energy management have been recognised. In the spirit of Kaizen or continuous improvement, we strive to find innovative ways to save energy as well as save money,” said Riaan Olivier, General Manager SHE Department of Toyota South Africa Motors.
The Toyota plant in Prospecton, Durban, always stood out as a model plant in the implementation of an energy management system and has many case studies to verify the benefits of energy reduction. UNIDO identified this and formed a partnership with Toyota to showcase these benefits around the world. As a result, TSAM was invited by UNIDO to present a paper at COP17 in Durban in 2011 titled Energy & Cost Savings Through Energy Management & Systems Optimisation and ultimately share our experiences and successes.
The UNIDO partnership started in 2010 when two members from TSAM’s Environmental Engineering Department were selected by UNIDO to attend the world’s first expert level Energy Management Systems training course. The course commenced with twenty students in February 2011 and ran over a year. The course proved both challenging and strenuous as only five students, including both TSAM members, passed the examination.
Furthermore, TSAM went on to showcase more successes through various other presentations and visits by high level UNIDO members to South Africa over the years.
UNIDO started to build its Global Programme on Energy Management System Implementation in Industry in 2007. UNIDO embarked on a global vision of providing world class energy management knowledge and skills training to key members of developing countries. This training and knowledge transfer was made possible through generous donor funding from various organisations and countries.
“UNIDO has played an integral part in supporting TSAM with world class training and skills development in terms of Energy management. The training assisted largely in putting the efforts into a system that would improve the benefits to the company in the long run. This is evident in the success that the company has achieved thus far,” concluded Olivier.