Annual Report 2007 - Novo Nordisk

On 30 November 2007, some 70 investors and analysts
visit Kalundborg, Denmark – site of the world’s largest insulin
plant and the facility that will soon produce liraglutide.
Lars Clausen, executive vice president, DONG Energy, and
Lise Kingo, executive vice president and COS, Novo Nordisk,
seal their ambitious wind power deal with a handshake.
able to shorten analysis time by more than 25% by turning the spotlight
on one of the ‘invisible’ tasks easily overlooked in the busy daily
routine. The key to the results was performance management and immediate
follow-up.
Also in Kalundborg, new cooling towers at the fermentation plant
boost capacity by 50% and at the same time achieve the largest single
reduction in energy consumption: annual savings of 4 million kWh and
an annual reduction in CO 2 emissions of some 2,500 tons.
Production efficiency accelerates CO 2 reduction
At the same time, production efficiency underpins Novo Nordisk’s climate
strategy and contributes to lowering the levels of CO 2 emissions.
The company has set an ambitious target, as part of its commitment to
the WWF Climate Savers programme, to reduce CO 2 emissions in 2014
to a level that is 10% below the 2004 level, despite a significant production
increase.
Novo Nordisk is committed to actively addressing climate change.
Reducing carbon dependency is a business priority, and the company
acknowledges its responsibility to respond to what is now recognised
as one of the greatest global challenges to our future.
The three levers in Novo Nordisk’s climate strategy are optimisation
through cLEAN ® , energy savings in production and conversion to renewable
energy. Energy-screening programmes from 2005 to 2007 led
to an estimated reduction in CO 2 emissions of 12,000 tons.
An innovative partnership for wind power
In 2007, Novo Nordisk entered into a pioneering agreement with
DONG Energy, Denmark’s largest energy company: DONG Energy assists
Novo Nordisk in identifying energy-saving options and in return
Novo Nordisk will purchase corresponding quantities of energy from a
new offshore wind farm off the west coast of Denmark.
With this agreement Novo Nordisk has devised a cost-neutral way
to significantly achieve reductions in CO 2 emissions and at the same time
help build the market for renewable energy in Denmark. This is what
makes the agreement unique: it is commercially viable, and that makes
it a solution that both parties would like to see other companies adopt.
From 2014, Novo Nordisk is expected to purchase about a third of the
total energy produced by the wind farm. The aim is that, by then, electricity
supplies for Novo Nordisk’s facilities in Denmark, which currently account
for 85% of the company’s total CO 2 emissions, will be entirely
based on power from this wind farm. The partnership will run till 2020.
A quality mindset
In times of increased regulatory pressure for the pharmaceutical industry
to meet high safety and quality standards, emphasis on quality goes
hand in hand with effective and efficient production. More stable
processes serve to ensure product quality.
“We are doing more with less, quite simply.
Low unit costs allow us to invest more in research
and development and in sales and marketing. This is
what will keep us strong in the long run, and it’s a
very motivating message to our employees.”
Per Valstorp
senior vice president, Product Supply
At Novo Nordisk, cLEAN ® in manufacturing is an expression of the
Quality Mindset, one of the fundamental management principles in the
Novo Nordisk Way of Management: ‘Everyone must continuously improve
the quality of their work.’
The robust quality system at Novo Nordisk has resulted in a consistently
high level of performance regarding the quality of the company’s
products as well as compliance in the manufacturing of products. Novo
Nordisk’s production is generally in compliance with international standards
for current good manufacturing practice (cGMP). In 2007, more
than 70 inspections by various health authorities or certifying bodies
were passed.
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