In total, we work with more than 400 providers, each supplying vital products, materials, and equipment for our construction projects. In terms of delivery miles alone, this large supplier base represents a po- tentially significant carbon footprint, if not managed proactively. Our solution was to turn to the wealth of businesses in our local area – and this initiative has been a huge success. Today, more than 75 percent of our supply orders are sourced from the North East of England, very close to our headquarters in Darlington, with only specialist equipment being ordered from further afield or overseas. As a direct result, the carbon footprint of our supply chain has been considerably reduced, alongside lead times. Furthermore, our renewed emphasis on local content is not exclusive to the Northeast – it also extends to our construction sites. As Chris Droogan, Managing Director at Cleveland Bridge reveals, “To mini- mise the carbon footprint of any given project, we aim to maximise local resources, where possible. For example, our recent project at Bridge Street, Newport operated with more than 50 percent of local labour and materials sourced in that region.” Our lean manufacturing As one of the biggest contributors to our carbon footprint, a complete overhaul of Cleveland Bridges traditional manufacturing was required. In its place, we sought to implement lean manufacturing principles that
At Cleveland Bridge Group, we firmly believe that sustainability is a pre-requisite for doing business in today’s world. As such, the entire steel industry must take responsibility for their impact on the environ- ment and embed the values, practices, new techniques, and solutions across all aspects of their businesses. While we understand that this is no simple task, our own efforts to go green have proven that the rewards are worth the work. In fact, we have successfully implemented over 300 separate initiatives that not only reduced our carbon footprint, but also improved our day-to-day processes and cost of operations. Our local supply chain As an international company, one of the biggest obstacles to reducing carbon emissions was the sheer size of our supply chain. Cleveland Bridge Group: Howwe reduced our carbon footprint
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