Frito-Lay Inc.’s Green Manufacturing and Sustainability Case Study

Introduction

Various factory-manufactured goods form part of human life. People consume such goods in their daily lives, and their interrupted supply would result in so many inconveniencies. However, their production can be detrimental to the resources of the planet earth. Therefore, in processing these goods, managers must take into account the well being of the environment. After examining the significance of unequivocal selection and designing goods and services in the previous chapters of Render’s “Principles of operations management,” chapter 7, “Process Strategy and Sustainability,” explores the choices of an operations manager in the achievement of only environment and consumer-friendly goods.

Production units must develop policies to save the planet’s resources in their bid to maximize their organizational profits. Managers can embrace several strategies to achieve this. These include process focus, repetitive focus, mass customization focus, product focus, amongst others. For instance, in mass customization, managers are advised to implement the Build-to-order, which entails producing goods according to orders and not forecast.

Green manufacturing and sustainability at Frito-Lay

Sources of pressure for the company to minimize its environmental footprints

The most outstanding source of pressure for Frito-Lay to reduce its environmental footprint is consumer demand. Recent researches have indicated that consumers are becoming observant of products produced through environment-friendly processes. This has prompted the company to comply with its interests to make sales. Since the company’s goal is zero pounds of waste to the landfills, the pressure to potentially save its energy and resources comes from within its organs too.

Frito-Lay is determined to cut its energy costs under whatever circumstances. That notwithstanding, it is determined to reduce its wastes tremendously. In addition to the company’s organs, the National Environmental Performance Track scheme also exerts pressure on the company to minimize its environmental degradation and resort to renewable energy.

Techniques that the company uses to become a ‘green’ manufacturer

1. The company has implemented employee scorecards and employee personalized action plans that recognize their accomplishments.
2. Skylights have been installed in most conference rooms of the facility to reduce electricity consumption.
3. Fuel-efficient ovens have also been used to recapture the energy lost from waste stacks.
4. Wastewater has been reinstated by vacuum hoses aimed at pulling the evaporated water from the sliced potatoes.
5. The company has resorted to solar power by building about fifty acres of concentrators in Modesto.
6. The company’s biomass boiler plant is also part of the scheme to increase its sources of renewable energy.
7. The company has also resorted to recycling its wastewater.
8. The company also makes its Doritos from recycled byproducts of corn.

A comparison of Frito-Lay’s and Walmart’s green policies

As Frito-Lay recycles its waste products like corn to make Doritos, Walmart, on the other hand, tries to reduce its waste products by using recommended sizes of packaging materials. Walmart’s packaging materials are also made of reusable materials. This company also sells reusable bags in a bid to discourage the purchase of disposable plastic carriers. On the contrary, Frito-Lay has resorted to packaging materials made from biodegradable materials to keep the environment free from waste from its packaging materials. It is important to note that all companies embrace solar energy use as a way of discouraging environmental degradation through electricity.