Background

An international sporting goods manufacturer enlisted Foth to help them achieve and maintain regulatory compliance within their 22 North American facilities. Foth worked closely with the client to develop a strategic approach and perform a series of baseline environmental audits to prioritize tasks and meet the manufacturer’s budgetary considerations.

Approach

Foth’s baseline environmental audits identified a long list of needs for each facility. We used Lean Project Delivery tools, a visual project management method that helps mitigate project risks and maximize team collaboration, to deliver cost-effective communications to the entire project team. This approach helped our team manage post-audit briefings to client staff, hazardous waste documentation and reporting, hazardous waste hauler selection, non-hazardous waste characterization, paint filter sampling, and wastewater sampling. It also assisted with QA/QC recordkeeping, Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) plans, air permit applications, air emission spreadsheets, annual air reporting, DOT certifications and training, Phase I and II Environmental Site Assessments, SARA 312/313 (Tier II and Form R) determination and documentation, Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPP), facility expense assessment planning, and environmental training.

Results

Foth brought awareness to potentially noncompliant situations within each facility. We also recognized and reported on substantial operational and liability cost-saving opportunities, giving our client’s executive  board the tools they need to lower insurance rates, reduce emergency cash reserves, and reduce utility usage in each facility. Additional savings could also be generated by evaluating and reusing or selling the identified manufacturing by-products.