Improving efficiencies in Wisconsin
With the help of a full-time, permanent sustainability specialist, The Wagner Companies, a Milwaukee-based company that makes metal components, has saved $350,000 annually on reduced energy usage and waste disposal fees since it began participating in the first round of the Profitable Sustainability Initiative, a program introduced in 2010 by the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership with support from WEDC.
Focus on sustainable manufacturing
A fifth-generation, family-owned company with 160 full-time employees, The Wagner Companies began monitoring categories such as energy usage and sustainability measures. Increasingly, principles of sustainability have been applied to all aspects of Wagner’s operations, from supply chain to packaging, from cleaning the factory to transporting finished goods. As a result, the company has begun making some products that, due to their sustainability features, are becoming increasingly desirable to consumers — for example, handrails designed to light walkways with built-in low-voltage, long-lasting LED lights.
(February 2015)
