Material costs, reducing

Production efficiency - reduced raw material costs, reduced drying cost, better runnability, lower overall chemical costs and lower effiuent treatment costs... 

Accidents avoided/accident rate Energy losses eliminated Material costs reduced... 

The whole problem is best dealt with by not making the waste in the first place, i.e., waste minimization. If waste can be minimized at the source, this brings the dual benefit of reducing waste treatment costs and reducing raw materials costs. 

The principal material cost for the Chilean iodine producers is sulfur used for the manufacture of sulfur dioxide, the reducing agent for the iodates contained in the leach solutions. Also, the use of sodium carbonate for the neutralization of the depleted solutions is an important cost factor. 

Raw material costs and utilisation yield improvement reduced losses... 

High density polyethylene is widely used for pipes and drains, especially in large-diameter cormgated forms. The cormgations provide stronger walls at less thickness, which reduces the materials cost of the pipe. 

The individual variances in Table 9-40 show that the increased profit is due to reduced material costs, which affect manufacturing costs to a greater extent than increased labor and overhead costs. The individual variances also show that to an even greater extent the increased profit is due to the increase in sales revenue. 

The adjustment of a protection station or of a complete protection system where there is stray current interference is made much easier by potential control. Potential control can be indispensable for electrochemical protection if the protection potential range is very small (see Sections 2.4 and 21.4). This saves anode material and reduces running costs. 

Economic evaluations of waste-reduction options should involve a comparison of operating costs to illustrate where cost savings would accrue. For example, a waste-reduction measure that reduces the amount of raw material lost down the drain during the process will reduce raw-material costs. Raw-material substitution or process changes may reduce the amount of solid waste that must be transported offsite, reducing the transport costs for waste disposal. 

This is an injection moulding method which permits material costs to be reduced in large mouldings. In most mouldings it is the outer surface of an article which is important in terms of performance in service. If an article has to be thick in order that it will have adequate flexural stiffness then the material within the core of the article is wasted because its only function is to keep the outer surfaces apart. The philosophy of sandwich moulding is that two different materials (or two forms of the same material) should be used for the core and skin. That is, an expensive high performance material is used for the skin and a low-cost commodity or recycled plastic is used for the core. The way that this can be achieved is illustrated in Fig. 4.44. 

A new scheme for location management has developed whereby wastes are diverted to separate holding facilities according to the hazard imposed by the waste. Separate pits are created to hold rig washing and precipitation wastes, solid wastes and drilling fluids [225]. The waste is then reused, disposed on site, or hauled away for offsite treatment. The system reduces contamination of less hazardous materials with the more hazardous materials, thereby reducing disposal costs. 

Based on the survey, the actual costs normally associated with the maintenance operation were reduced by more than 50 per cent. The comparison of maintenance costs included the actual labor and overhead of the maintenance department. It also included the actual materials cost of repair parts, tools and other equipment required to maintain plant equipment. The analysis did not include lost production time, variances in direct labor or other costs that should be directly attributed to inefficient maintenance practices. 

The ability of nanoclay incorporation to reduce solvent transmission through polymers such as polyamides has been demonstrated. Data provided by de Bievre and Nakamura [203] of UBE Industries reveal significant reductions in fuel transmission through poIyamide-6/66 polymers by incorporation of a nanoclay hller. As a result, considerable interest is now being shown in these materials as both fuel tank and fuel line components for cars. Of further interest, the reduced fuel transmission characteristics are accompanied by significant material cost reductions. 

Overall, the money the company invested in process development was paid back in less than one year through reduced material costs, lower energy charges and reduced cost of waste. 

Chemical companies are also weak at looking for opportunities downstream of their own operations. Whilst most would recognise the need to understand the business of their customers, few look further downstream and try and understand their customer s customer. However, if your materials can reduce energy consumption or waste production in a final product, you reduce the costs further downstream and potentially change the value distribution across the entire supply chain. If you understand how your products are used downstream, you can share that value with your customers. 

As an example of good choice of starting materials, NEC were interested in making wide use of biopolymers instead of petrochemically derived plastics and composites in their consumer electronics. There is a desire to use renewable materials to reduce reliance on non-renewables and to avoid the predicted rising cost of petrochemically derived materials. A range of biopolymers already exist, but they lack the performance required for products such as mobile phones, portable entertainment devices and mobile computers. 

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