Lamifil

Stricter laws, rising taxes and growing customer expectations are putting organisations under increasing pressure to reduce their environmental impacts. In order to demonstrate its commitment to sustainability, Belgian non-ferrous metals company Lamifil pulled out all the stops to achieve ISO 14001 environmental management certification. “With the help of Mensura, the certification process went smoothly”, says Frank Kloek, Production & EHS Manager at Lamifil.

Lamifil is a major player in the non-ferrous metals sector, in which aluminium and copper are processed to make high-voltage cables and overhead lines, to name but a few applications. Thanks to the efforts of some 250 employees, the company offers an end-to-end service package, from R&D to production and delivery. When it comes to prevention and protection at work, the organisation does not leave anything to chance either. “For ISO certification, we’ve enlisted the hands-on expert assistance of Mensura”, adds Frank.

In the non-ferrous metals sector, companies are expected to meet exacting standards by approaching environmental management in a structured way. “Sustainable entrepreneurship is a deal maker: customers want an environmentally conscious manufacturer”, Frank explains. “Having the international ISO 14001 environmental management certification allows us to show that we comply with the strictest standards of sustainability and make efforts to reduce our environmental impact.”
 

ISO 14001 ensures that everyone is on the same page. “The successful implementation of the standard helps create an environmentally aware corporate culture”, says Hugo Vanderputten, Environmental Coordinator at Mensura. “Employees are deeply involved throughout the certification process to make sure they can contribute to the company’s environmental goals.”

As a facilitator, Mensura puts the customer and its employees on the right track. Hugo: “We draw from our own experience to inspire the customer. Having successfully implemented the procedure for our own certification and those of various customers, we were familiar with the challenges the customer would be facing.”

The implementation of ISO 14001 at Lamifil ran from the end of 2014 to the beginning of 2016. “Our approach consists of three steps”, explains Hugo. “We start by analysing the current situation. Key questions include: what does the company do? What needs to be done to comply with standard requirements and legislation? Based on the results, we propose a policy statement and detailed action plan, which we help integrate into the wider organisational policy.”

The action plan is rolled out in a second stage. “In doing so, we set up as simple and pragmatic a system as possible, with a minimum of paperwork for the customer”, adds Hugo. “Raising awareness, training, performing internal audits – we did everything to ensure that Lamifil would meet the different requirements of the ISO 14001 standard. A final audit follows in the third step to verify that the organisation is ready for certification.”
 

And it works. Lamifil obtained the environmental management certificate in 2016. Frank: “The icing on the cake: our environmental efforts have been officially recognised. Thanks to our internal multidisciplinary eco team – which also includes Mensura –, we approach sustainability in a broad, integrated way. And it pays off: we’ve measured 40% less urban water consumption, 2% less relative energy consumption and a reduction in heavy metal emissions.”

“Mensura not only helped create an environmentally aware organisational culture but is also assisting us in conducting followup audits and detecting potential improvement points. This helps ensure that we always meet the rapidly evolving environmental law. We are 100% prepared for the transition to ISO 14001:2015 in 2018 and the re-certification audit in 2019.”

Grow in a green way as a united organisation. Discover what our experts can do for your company at www.mensura.be. If you have any questions, feel free to call us at +32 2 549 71 00.