If you are like most other retailers, you have been reducing your expenses at every available opportunity for years. One reaches a point though, when one has done just about as much as one can. The rent, electricity, bank charges, insurance, and so on, are expenses that one has little control over. Or are they? The Supply Chain and Logistics Association (SCLAA) received an $800,000 grant to assist small business save on energy costs. The potential savings that it has identified are quite ext
ensive and cover lighting, materials, handling equipment, cool rooms, and even petrol.
Quality LED lighting in shops, homes, offices, and warehouses is getting cheaper and the lumens, or light quality, better.
This means that LED lights are now interchangeable in terms of the light they produce, and savings in replacement and power usage make them worthwhile in every environment.
The popular two pin halogen lights can be replaced with LEDs for around $11 a light, providing a payback within a year.
In warehouse environments, LED can replace power hungry halogen lights and provide just as good light.
Plus the old style halogen lights with their control boxes created a lot of heat and were a fire hazard. There are many stories of warehouse workers climbing up racking with fire extinguishers to put them out.
Smart operators are recognising this and getting reductions on their insurance premiums, by replacing them with LEDs.
On the road, many operators are putting drivers through eco-driving courses, which can save around 35 per cent of fuel costs, not to mention savings in brake and tyre replacements.
The SCLAA is running three hour free workshops across Australia and conducting targeted webinars to demonstrate how businesses can save money on energy costs.
They have also created an online tool that allows SMEs to enter their energy costs in their premises and on the road and it calculates the savings and payback period.
Mark Skipper, chairman of the SCLAA, says the program has identified many opportunities that have fast paybacks, reduce operating costs, and deliver a competitive advantage.
The online tool and other resources are available here.
The webinars are able to be viewed here.
Stuart Bennie is a retail consultant at Impact Retailing www.impactretailing.com.au and can be contacted at stuart@impactretailing.com.au or 0414 631 702
