CLEVELAND, September 27, 2021—At Parker, these three little words are the not-so-secret formula to personal and professional success. We believe in empowering team members to think as owners and take action to improve their areas of the business. We know engagement directly influences business performance. And we’ve seen first-hand what can happen when passionate, purpose-driven team members put their heads together in pursuit of a better tomorrow.

Case in point: In 2018, when UK-based environmental, health and safety manager Ian Livingstone launched a High Performance Team (HPT) dedicated to reducing carbon output and improving safety, it was with compliance in mind. But, it quickly became far more. Jonathan Priestley, facilities manager for Parker, and 18 other site energy champions and facility managers from across the region joined Livingstone, hoping to be agents of change.

The newly assembled team recognized a larger opportunity to mobilize resources from all 22 Parker sites across the UK and Ireland in order to share best practices and performance improvements related to health and safety, facilities, maintenance and energy efficiency.

“The enthusiasm was contagious,” says Livingstone. “The conversation about what we needed to do for compliance led to dialogue about what we wanted to do together—the impact we wished to have on the world. Then, we identified specific projects and ways team members could contribute.”

And that has been key to engagement. In just three short years, and despite a disruptive global pandemic, the HPT has made significant progress toward a number of shared goals:

• UK locations are assisting the creation of a corporate enterprise asset management system to migrate existing maintenance database systems to a cloud-based solution. The system will enable nearly 100 Parker locations to track maintenance work orders in one place and allow the facility and maintenance teams to manage key performance indicators and assess real time asset data during all phases of the asset life-cycle, which in turn can help them create a culture of asset tracking, schedule planned maintenance downtime and predict equipment reliability.
• A utilities management and compliance initiative identified 84 projects with potential utility cost savings of up to £320,000. To date, facilities have reduced their electricity consumption by 6% and gas consumption by 8% for a total cost savings of £295,421. Between 2020 and 2021, CO2 emissions were reduced by 942 metric tons — the equivalent of a 10% reduction. Facilities are also pursuing the installation of LED lighting to reduce electricity and maintenance costs, additional reductions in carbon footprint, as well as monitoring water usage and spending.
• To reduce emissions, support local corporate social responsibility efforts and align with ISO 14001 reduction targets, the team facilitated the installation of electric vehicle charging stations for fleet and employee vehicles. To date, 10 charge points have been installed across eight locations with three more in process, saving more than 12 tons of CO2 against combustion engines.
• Prior to the pandemic, the team hosted an Automation and Robotics Safety event in Hemel Hempstead. Sites are using this HPT to share the experience with other locations.

“What we’ve been able to accomplish to this point is the result of engagement, teamwork and determination,” explains Livingstone. “As gratifying as it is to be environmentally conscious at home, it’s even more exciting to think about the impact we can have here in our workplaces.”

Parker’s July 2021 announcement committing to carbon-neutral operations by 2040 and outlining a series of emissions targets further bolstered the team:

“It’s so easy for all of us to get absorbed with our day-to-day work,”  adds Livingstone. “Our hope with this HPT is to keep our team members engaged, help them lead with purpose and continue to think bigger than their location.”

About Parker

Parker Hannifin is a Fortune 250 global leader in motion and control technologies. For more than a century the company has been enabling engineering breakthroughs that lead to a better tomorrow. Learn more at www.parker.com or @parkerhannifin.

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