One Sustainable Step at a Time
New bulk bagging equipment supported by a $50,000 grant from Sustainability Victoria, has resulted in a higher yield and reduced wastage.
By participating in various initiatives under Sustainability Victoria’s Smarter Resources, Smarter Business program, including master classes and skilling up staff, DFM has embraced continuous learning and improvement and has demonstrated it is serious about resource efficiency.
Project
“DFM recognised early on that there had to be a smarter way of operating and doing business – from securing raw materials, to the safety of our employees, to the end product” said DFM Business Manager.
DFM successfully applied for a $50,000 capital funding grant through Sustainability Victoria’s Smarter Resources, Smarter Business program in 2013 to install two Bulka Bag Unloader units in its plant. The units provide automated conveyance and measuring of flour to mixers in production, which is expected to result in a higher yield and reduced wastage.
In June 2014, after completing this project, DFM successfully applied for a $15,000 grant through the Smarter Resources, Smarter Business program to conduct a resource assessment of their operations to identify further material as well as energy saving opportunities.
Outcomes
In the eight months since installation of the Bulka Bag units with their accurate dose delivery of ingredients, DFM has saved 5,000kg of flour and it is expected that these savings will continue to grow as DFM identifies additional efficiency opportunities as a result of this project. There has been additional flow-on benefit from the bulk ingredient delivery system with DFM now able to purchase supplies in bulk with significant savings.
“Apart from the obvious financial gains, this project has certainly helped DFM to reduce the potential risk to our employees in terms of manual handling risks. Buying bulk bags of flour has practically reduced the need for any manual handling of flour-based raw materials. It has also allowed DFM to be more innovative in terms of identifying opportunities to enhance production processes … doing more in-house rather than buying in specialty raw materials.”
DFM has completed an LED lighting replacement project, which has seen all lights in the production processing, freezers, coolroom, load bays, and maintenance workshop areas replaced with LED lighting.
Future
DFM will continue to seek opportunities for improvement across all aspects of its processes to demonstrate its ongoing commitment to employees and customers and a pursuit for sustainable business excellence.
The company is also considering a boiler upgrade to achieve efficiencies through greater utilisation of steam.
