Setting the scene for sustainability
Headlines in 2022 were dominated by news of inflation, shortages, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, rising interest rates, and declining stock prices. Despite these headwinds, I am proud to report that Manitowoc remained focused on building the physical communities and infrastructures for current and future generations. Having a sustainable, socially responsible business begins with our four Core Values, which exemplify our culture:
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
I do what is right – At Manitowoc, we strive to support the communities where we live. Founded in 2019, Brooke’s House in Hagerstown, Maryland, provides a community-based, safe, stable, and emotionally supportive living environment for adult women in the early stages of substance abuse recovery. In 2022, Manitowoc furthered its partnership with Brooke’s House by committing to provide job training and employment opportunities in welding and assembly for women who have graduated from the in-treatment program. Since July 2022, ten women have been trained by Manitowoc in technical skill sets and are now helping build cranes in our Shady Grove, Pennsylvania, facility. Providing opportunities to empower women to become independent and productive members of the local community reflects our value and spirit of doing the right thing.
We work as a team – At Manitowoc, our greatest asset is our talented team of diverse employees and leaders. We are excited to continue pursuing initiatives that strengthen our diversity commitments. In 2022, we expanded our Supervisory Leadership Program to include team members from our recent acquisitions; we kicked off the Manitowoc Leans In women’s resource group to assist in the professional development and retention of women; and, in our Shady Grove facility, we continued to make inroads with the local Hispanic community by enhancing our outreach programs through English as a Second Language (ESL) grassroots networking and recruiting efforts.
We deliver results – As part of our strategy to improve our sustainability, all Manitowoc's manufacturing facilities achieved ISO50001 certification in 2022. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Using The Manitowoc Way tools, we developed an Energy Kaizen process that we are using across the enterprise to target high energy consumption activities, such as painting. In addition, we have begun to install solar panels at our facilities – in 2023, solar will provide 30% of electricity used in our Italian facility and 25% of that used in our Portuguese facility. Further, we achieved a 24% reduction of our Greenhouse Gas (GHG) intensity year-over-year; this milestone enabled Manitowoc to meet our 2025 normalized GHG target three years ahead of schedule. Lastly, we reduced the amount of waste we send to landfills by 36% year-over-year by reusing welding slag and increasing recycling.
I am a role model – We have begun to accelerate our implementation of The Manitowoc Way within our recent acquisitions – Aspen Equipment and MGX Equipment Services (formerly H&E Equipment Service's Crane business). Although we are in the initial stages of this journey for these businesses, I am proud of the team's receptiveness to The Manitowoc Way and their approach to daily improvements with a can-do attitude. For example, we completed a kaizen at our location in Bloomington, Minnesota, to increase productivity in one of the truck-body upfitting cells. The team is on track to eliminate approximately 80% of the waste in this cell and improve its capacity by 30%. This kaizen exemplifies the results of The Manitowoc Way.
Historians will surely remember 2022 for its economic hardships and geopolitical adversities. But, within the Manitowoc family, 2022 will be remembered as a year of endurance and progress. The organization continues to mature and grow into better custodians of the earth and our communities. Manitowoc is building a better tomorrow for our employees, customers, and shareholders – a tomorrow that will make future generations proud of our efforts.
Aaron H. RavenscroftPresident & Chief Executive OfficerThe Manitowoc Company, Inc.
