When companies tighten their belts

IT IS one thing for prices at the pump to go up once in a while, but definitely quite another when they go up practically every week. And hikes are not just by a few centavos, but sometimes by over P1 a liter.

And at the rate crude oil prices are soaring, from about $90 in February to around $130 at the end of May, households and companies in the Philippines have had to urgently implement measures to cope with runaway crude prices.

Wild oil price fluctuations wreak havoc on operations as companies greatly depend on diesel and gasoline to run their businesses.

Inquirer features how some of the leading companies in the country are saving on costs, ranging from the simple like turning off appliances when not in use to the complex, such as shifting to solar-powered equipment.

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Jollibee Foods Corp.

Energy and Water Management Initiatives

Part of the Jollibee Group’s water management practice is the use of hygienic waterless urinals in our stores. This odorless facility uses a special liquid sealant to prevent odors from escaping, and funnel pure urine down the drain.Each waterless urinal saves around 150,000 liters of water a year.

Energy management initiatives allow us to conserve electricity in our store operations. Our kitchens are equipped with powerful evaporative fresh air blowers that use only water to convert hot dry air into fresh cool air. Warm air from the outside is drawn through wet filter pads, and temperature is lowered through the evaporative process, producing cool air that is released by fans into the room.

Through this facility, we are able to reduce our use of air conditioners, and save around 25,000 kilowatt-hours of energy a year with every unit.

Another mechanism the Jollibee Group has in its stores is the heat recovery water heater that produces hot water without using electricity. It simply connects to the store’s air conditioning unit, traps the waste heat emitted by its refrigerant, and concentrates this heat around water coils or pipes.

This practically eliminates the use of electric water heaters for washing and cleaning. In the process, it also improves the air conditioners’ efficiency. The savings are equivalent to 12,000 kilowatt-hours of energy per year per unit.

Since conventional exhausts are necessary in our cooking operations, we use variable speed drives in our stores to conserve electricity. This motor control automatically reduces the speed of the fans during off-peak hours when less food is cooked. This is triggered by thermostat sensors that detect lower temperatures in the kitchen. It saves us around 14,000 kilowatt-hours of energy per motor per year.

Globe Telecom

We continue to seek ways to improve our cost model. In line with this, the company has shifted to more focused, targeted acquisition and retention efforts to keep our subscriber acquisition costs down in light of declining ARPUs. To better manage our financing costs, we took advantage of the low interest rates in 2007 and prepaid $300 million senior notes due 2012 which will result in P2.3 billion interest expense savings for the company over the next five years. We continue to review our internal processes to find ways to improve overall efficiency and productivity levels.

Unilever Corp.

In production, we do process simplification so that less energy is required. For our warehouses, we replace plain galvanized iron roof with transparent flexi roof to improve lighting. We also replaced high-wattage lights with efficient CFL lights. We re-use treated water for yard cleaning and watering plants.

GMA Network Inc.
Felipe Gozon, president

Through the assistance of outside consultants we were able to streamline our operations in general and our program procedures in particular resulting in less manpower, less shooting and taping days, less rental expenses, less power consumption, less consumption of supplies, reduced overtimes, greater efficiency and productivity, etc.

Empire East Land Holdings Inc.
Charlemagne Yu, CEO

Even before this oil crisis, we have been very conscious of our costs. I suppose this started during the Asian crisis years. For instance, people are not even allowed to use unused sheets for internal memo. Even today, when we are selling quite well already, we do not allow using corporate funds to buy snacks during meetings of officers. For Christmas, we encourage people to live simply whereas before parties used to be held in grand ballrooms with people wearing gowns and suits. Since I started, all Christmas parties have been held in club houses of our own developments and we use only internal talents instead of hiring glamorous actors and actresses to give entertainment. I am so thrifty that I think I can fill up a book of cost reduction measures in good times and bad.

Figaro Coffee Corp.
Pacita U. Juan, CEO

We car pool as much as we can. We turn off air conditioning one hour before official quitting time. Our computer monitors are off during lunch break. We use power strips for our appliances so there will be no phantom loads or unused electricity.

Land Bank of the Philippines
Agustin Frederick A. Apilado
AVP, Corporate Affairs Department

Decreased power consumption, fuel, paper and solid waste. We got and sustained 94 percent DOE rating for 2007 and 2008.

Golden Arches Dev’t Corp.
Franchise holder of McDonald’s
Zonito Torrevillas

At the head office, we turn off lights during lunch time. Disposal of utensils are controlled by the department secretaries and we bring, use our own utensils.

Ortigas and Co.
Rex C. Drilon II, COO

Our energy conservation has been going on for five years. At the Greenhills Shopping Center, we replaced more than 150 units of stand-alone five-tonners with centralized airconditioning. We replaced our incandescent lamps with compact fluorescent lamps and we updated our air conditioning technologies and replaced old service vehicles. At Concrete Aggregates Corp., we availed ourselves of time-of-use electricity use options and maximized manufacturing operations at non-peak hours where electricity rates are cheaper. We also increased transportation allowances for key personnel and giving gift certificates monthly for employees to help them with increased food prices. Also, our BPO buildings to be constructed in Frontera Verde and the 5,000-unit Aqua Verde condominiums are all green buildings.

HSBC
Johanna Garcia, AVP

We have been implementing energy-saving measures as part of our ongoing commitment to the environment. These include using lower wattage light bulbs, enhancing and actively maximizing our videoconferencing capabilities/facilities and making available a regular shuttle between our two main offices at the Fort and the Enterprise to minimize travel costs.

Whealth Inc.
Albert M.G. Garcia, president

As company practice, we have instilled in our employees that the most valuable commodity/asset we have is time. Consequently all employees aim to reduce downtime and time wasted by concurrently implementing tasks which results in maximizing productivity and efficiency.

We try to share this principle and mindset with our associates and suppliers and emphasize that it is improper, rude and downright unprofessional for them to waste our time.

We also constantly review all fixed and variable costs with the aim to eliminate redundant expenses. But more importantly we strive to extract value-added benefits from proposals beyond what is tabled and look outside of the box for additional opportunities from cross linkages.

Overall we aim to maximize the value of our resources by finding ways to increase its worth, rather than reduce costs for costs sake.–Margie Quimpo-Espino, Tina Arceo-Dumlao, Philippine Daily Inquirer