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Phillips Collection
Best Practice Achievements
We continue to strive to reduce our carbon footprint and energy consumption by staying on the leading edge of new technologies and best practices. For 2022 we are assessing our packing department and how to reduce waste of material and unnecessary overages with power tool usage. The movement of goods throughout our warehouses is being reassessed so the most highly purchased items are closest to our loading docks. In addition to packing, we have acquired new facilities and go through our multi-step improvement of those structures from energy efficient roofing to led lighting. For many, this is a big step, for us, it’s the bare minimum. We strive to make the best decisions for the planet even if it cuts into our margins. In the case of upfitting energy efficient lighting, it’s a financially responsible decision as it pays for itself in a very short period of time.
In years past, we focused on major facility energy improvements and savings. We have already installed LED lighting throughout the main buildings, re-engineered our water and power systems, and have installed Big Ass Fans to keep a healthy and constant flow of air coming in and exhausting out of the building.
We are adding dehumidifying rooms in our warehouse to help maintain the moisture levels of the solid wood we import. This will improve our product prep and turnaround time, requiring less time spent in the warehouse and quicker shipments to our clients. Further, it reduces the amount of wood that will have to be discarded if the moisture levels remain too high. The dehumidifying rooms bring the moisture content of our woods down incrementally. Drying wood too quickly can result in it warping or spitting which could ruin the stock. This new facility improvement will dramatically reduce waste and loss.
We plan to continue to innovate our packing methods and are currently in talks with one of the largest packaging companies in the country–Atlantic Packaging–about using state-of-the-art mushroom packaging in place of our paper packaging where possible. It’s an exciting time in this part of our business as the cost of shipping is astronomically high, it’s making us reassess voluminous items and reengineering packaging so it minimizes damages. A damaged item that requires pickup and replacement is one of the most costly parts of our operation and we need to avoid this as a priority.
We always work from our end cuts, whether at the factory or in our North Carolina wood shop. So we collect waste piles and turn them into art. Not many companies can do it at the scale we do, and we cherish that. Our customers have come to expect tasteful, artistic designs born from the scraps of material we accumulate. There is not a dining slab that gets cut so that the client doesn’t end up with a nice side table or bench as a result of that end cut.
We are a company deeply committed to sustainability and we live by the ethos that every company can make a difference in their efforts to nurture the planet and to help protect our environment.
Celebrating nearly forty years as a supplier in the furnishings industry, we pride ourselves on our global stewardship with a core belief in sustainability, and implement eco-friendly manufacturing in all of our locations, both locally and abroad.
Building on our long standing relationships with the Thai government where we source the majority of our wood, we also help to teach our vendors ways to establish and maintain sustainable business practices. We work closely with each of our partner factories, as we care deeply about how each location selects woods and fibers. Each year we also invest in the replanting of trees and create tree nurseries in order to replenish those that we have converted into living works of art.
Through partnerships with sustainability leaders, our executive team speaks at conferences, and panels across the country. As proponents of sustainable manufacturing and in order to share ways that other manufactures can implement sustainable techniques for their trade businesses.
In addition to offering educational sessions within our design and trade communities, our goal is to uplift, foster and facilitate sustainability education in the communities we work alongside, and to invoke a positive impact in each region and country we operate.