Oshkosh Door joins Green Master Program

The Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council recognized Oshkosh Door Company for its sustainability efforts by inducting them into the Green Masters Program.

The Green Masters Program is made up of three tiers and focuses on the areas of climate, water, waste management, transportation, supply chain, workforce, governance, and community and educational outreach.The council applauded Oshkosh Door for its “outstanding dedication to integrating principles of sustainability into its operations while pursuing business excellence.”

Oshkosh Door was recognized as a Business Professional, the second tier of the program, specifically for their dedication to sustainable energy and waste management practices.

There were five major changes made in an effort to be more sustainable, according to Dave Johnson, vice president of finance at Oshkosh Door.

The company installed an Ecogate dust collection system, which is a smart system that uses gates that automatically open and close when a machine needs it. This allows the dust collection motor to run at an optimized speed, which saves electricity.

Old lighting was also switched out to more energy efficient bulbs. Motion detectors were also added in the office, so lights will turn off automatically when the rooms are not in use.

“The plant now uses approximately half the electricity for lighting,” Johnson said. “Plus the lighting is brighter and, therefore, safer as well.”

Also in an effort to save electricity, Vendmisers were installed on the vending machines. A Vendmiser will safely power down vending units when safe to do so without risking spoilage of food items. These devices help “reduce power consumption and utility costs by up to 46%, while decreasing CO2 greenhouse gas emissions,” according to the product’s website.

A computer monitoring software was also added throughout the office, which automatically puts computers that are not in use in a “sleep” mode after a period of time.

Oshkosh Door also completed a compressed air examination to determine both the necessity and waste of compressed air used during the manufacturing process.

“The related repairs were made along with turning down our total compressed air PSI, as it was determined that a lower PSI setting was adequate in our manufacturing setting.” Johnson said.

Johnson said the energy and waste management practices put in place save the company between $5,000 and $8,000 per month, depending on the manufacturing requirements.

Gene Miels, Oshkosh Door president and COO, said since taking the Green Masters survey, the company has continued to find new ways to reuse materials that would have previously been considered waste.

“We’ve looked at reusing pallet and crating material and we have set up work cell to recover door components out of what had been scrap metal,” Miels said.

Oshkosh Door also recently started donating materials such as sanding belts, veneer, plastic laminate and molding to the Oshkosh Habitat for Humanity ReStore.

Oshkosh Door plans to continue expanding its green and sustainable efforts throughout 2013 and continue their involvement with the Green Masters Program.

“I believe that we will reapply for the Green Masters Program and are proud to be a manufacturing partner, as we all realize that we need to put the environment first,” Johnson said.

For more information about the Green Masters Program, visit www.greenmastersprogram.com.

Oshkosh Door Uses NatureWise For Cleaner Energy

Oshkosh Door Company is using cleaner energy, preserving resources and reducing its reliance on coal and natural gas as members of Wisconsin Public Service’s NatureWise Renewable Energy program.

NatureWise provides renewable energy in the form of biomass and wind. Since joining the program as champion level in April 2012, Oshkosh Door has purchased about 12,000 kWh of renewable energy through NatureWise.

Using cleaner, more renewable forms of energy is one of Oshkosh Door’s priorities, according to Dave Johnson, vice president of finance at Oshkosh Door.

“We’re not just relying on the power plant, which produces pollution, for our energy,” Johnson said. “We’re relying on green, clean energy for part of our usage.”

NatureWise funds also go toward helping WPS create more forms of renewable energy and “burn less coal and natural gas, which results in fewer greenhouse gases here in Central and Northeast Wisconsin,” according to the WPS website.

“It’s the right thing to do for the environment,” Johnson said. “We want to be the best company that we can be and lower our footprint from the energy consumed here.”

Oshkosh Door proudly displays the NatureWise logo throughout its building and on its website and will continue to support and utilize green and sustainable initiatives.

“We’re in it for the long haul,” Oshkosh Door President and COO Gene Miels said. “We’re celebrating 160 years this year and we plan to continue our commitment to the environment, community and our team members in the years to come.”