Production

A single common denominator

Following the sale of the two Koralle plants in the reporting year, the Geberit Group operates of 33 plants, six of which are located overseas. A wide range of production technologies are applied in these plants, which fall into three categories:

• Ceramic moulding (CER)
• Injection moulding, blow moulding and assembly (IBA)
• Extrusion, metalforming and thermoforming and appliance construction (EFA)

During the reporting year, the Geberit Production System (GPS 2.0) was implemented at all plants of the former Sanitec Group. All managers were trained in its “lean manufacturing” principles. These courses are now being expanded to all employees. The clearly defined and central objective of GPS 2.0 is the change in production philosophy from the workshop principle of step-by-step manufacturing to a comprehensive system of continuous flow production aimed at maximising efficiency and resource conservation.

In spite of the diversity of production technologies, efforts to further standardise and optimise the processes progressed well in the reporting year. The “OneERP” project to harmonise the IT systems and standardise the business processes has been implemented at the Polish production sites at the beginning of 2017. The project will be progressively implemented at all former Sanitec plants in the coming years.

Interdisciplinary support

A key condition for achieving efficiency gains with innovative processes in the plants is the establishment of a centre of expertise for each production area. The future course for this was set at the ceramics plant in Haldensleben (DE): Haldensleben is ready, both in terms of infrastructure and staff, to assume its future role as the Group’s lead ceramics plant and to test new processes before these are implemented at its sister plants.

Environmental management in production

The acquisition of Sanitec and, in particular, the integration of the new ceramics plants had a considerable impact on Geberit’s ecological footprint. Because of the processes involved, the manufacture of ceramic sanitary appliances is very energy-intensive. For this reason, the Group’s energy consumption increased fivefold in 2015. Its environmental impact and CO₂ emissions also increased significantly. The environmental impact was reduced in the reporting year. The absolute environmental impact decreased by 4.0%, even though currency-adjusted net sales increased by 7.6% in the same period. Thereby, the absolute environmental impact of the former Sanitec plants decreased. The environmental impact in relation to currency-adjusted net sales (eco-efficiency) decreased by 10.8%. As regards the long-term target, which is based on a decrease of 5% per year, Geberit therefore remains on course.

CO₂ emissions were reduced in 2016 by 3.0% to 250,108 tonnes. In relation to currency-adjusted net sales, emissions decreased by 9.9%. This enabled the targets set out in the long-term CO₂ strategy for reducing CO₂ emissions to be met. In addition to relative targets, this strategy now also includes long-term absolute targets. A three-pillar model is used for implementing the CO₂ strategy. The first pillar is about savings in energy consumption. The second pillar relates to increasing efficiency and the third pillar comprises the selective purchasing of high-quality, renewable energy. The detailed CO₂ balance sheet and all measures taken to reduce CO₂ emissions are also disclosed in detail as part of the company’s participation in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).

Geberit aims to further reinforce its position as industry leader in the area of sustainability. Thus the ambitious reduction targets formulated in 2006 continue to apply: eco-efficiency and relative CO₂ emissions should be improved by 5% per year (see also Sustainability Strategy 2017-2019). One of the main instruments that helps achieve this goal is the integrated Geberit management system, which unites the themes of quality, environment, health and occupational safety as well as energy. By the end of 2018, all former Sanitec sites are to be integrated into this system and will accordingly comply with the requirements of the standards ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 14001 (environmental management) and OHSAS 18001 (health and safety protection). Adding certification according to ISO 50001 (energy management) will be on the agenda for selected sites. A number of certifications were successfully completed in the reporting year.