PBR Columbia, LLC
Columbia, South Carolina

THE OVERVIEW
PBR Columbia is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pacifica Group, with sister companies in Knoxville, TN; Australia; Malaysia; Thailand and Italy. The Columbia facility was built in 1999 and opened its production lines in July 2000, producing aluminum brake calipers, Banksia park brakes, and corner modules for Corvettes and Cadillacs. PBR has 250 employees in its 22,300 square meters facility located in West Columbia, SC.

PBR's parent company has been successfully providing innovative automotive braking solutions for more than 70 years and has won many manufacturing awards during that time.

THE CHALLENGE
PBR was looking for a consulting company to support its goal of achieving ISO 14001 certification and to lead it through the process successfully. It was then that Human Resources Manager Phil Simmons and CFO Lou Krause met SCMEP Technical Specialist Vivian Harper.

THE SOLUTION
Harper helped PBR management achieve certification by walking them through each step of the process. "We would not have accomplished this without SCMEP," said Simmons. "We do not have the technical knowledge of the standards that SCMEP does."

SCMEP offers a JumpStart program that expedites a company's preparation for ISO 14001 certification. A process that usually takes about 18 months to complete, SCMEP helps companies prepare for certification in only four months. During those four months, SCMEP technical specialists and third-party resources are on-site at the client's facility a few days each month to help the company identify areas where they need to focus their improvement efforts. PBR took advantage of the JumpStart program and reports an overall positive experience with the process.

Through the program, Harper challenged Simmons to focus on electricity, wastewater, and gas production and drove him to find unique ways to increase plant capacities while handling byproducts effectively and in an environmentally sound manner. For example, SCMEP advised PBR to install evaporators to process wastewater and to install coolant spinners as cost-saving measures.

During this time, SCMEP also engaged in other projects with PBR, such as an overall energy audit. SCMEP conducted an assessment of energy consumption and expenditures as part of a Department of Energy grant under the Industries of the Future (IOF) Program to determine if there were any areas where PBR could reduce energy consumption and save money. Annual electric consumption and expenditures for electricity had grown steadily since plant startup due to increasing load requirements. These expenditures ran between $30,000 and $40,000 per month, or approximately $420,000 annually. Natural gas consumption had also grown since plant startup, with annual expenses running approximately $600,000.  

A walk through audit of the plant was conducted to assess whether there were any areas of operational concern warranting further detailed study of equipment or systems to determine efficiency of energy use or opportunities for energy savings.

THE IMPACT
PBR reports many instances of cost avoidance as a result of SCMEP's project implementations, in addition to quantifiable cost savings. PBR is able to report cost savings of $6,000 to $7,000 per month resulting from evaporator installation. More dollars were saved through coolant spinners and gas and electricity usage reductions in the cast shop. PBR finds it difficult to quantify these latter savings because as usage decreased, capacity was increasing. But, Simmons stresses, the company did meet its goal of a five percent reduction in usage.

The savings have enabled expansions at PBR, including a 50 percent expansion in the machining area and a 40 percent expansion of the assembly line.

"We keep going back to SCMEP to see what other services they offer," said Simmons. "SCMEP has a great program."