Efficiency
Stop the leaks
With visibility established, Stack 2 finds the leaks. Where are you spending more than you need to? Where is effort producing less than it could?
Every operation leaks value. Energy that heats empty space. Materials that become waste before they become product. Processes that take three steps when one would do. Labor spent on tasks that don't move anything forward.
Most businesses know they have inefficiencies. Few know where they are, how much they cost, or which ones are worth fixing first. Without the baseline from Stack 1, efficiency work becomes guesswork — optimizing whatever's visible rather than whatever matters.
Stack 2 is systematic leak detection. Find them, size them, prioritize them, fix the ones that pay for themselves.
The three lenses
Your operation
Where are you bleeding margin? Map waste, overuse, redundancy, and friction. Energy, materials, time, labor — anything that costs more than it should or produces less than it could.
Your environment
Where is the market leaking? What inefficiencies exist in your supply chain, your customer relationships, your competitive landscape? Opportunities others are missing become your advantage.
Your budget
What's the ROI on fixing each leak? Not all inefficiencies are worth fixing. Some cost more to address than they're losing. Prioritize by payback period and implementation complexity.
What you're building
A leak map isn't a one-time audit. It's an ongoing system that identifies:
- Energy leaks — heating, cooling, lighting, equipment running when it shouldn't
- Material leaks — waste, spoilage, overuse, quality issues that create rework
- Process leaks — redundant steps, bottlenecks, handoff failures, waiting time
- Information leaks — decisions made without data, knowledge that walks out the door
For each leak, you need: how big is it (annual cost), how hard is it to fix (effort/investment), and what's the payback (ROI timeline). This creates a prioritized action list, not a vague sense that things could be better.
The milestone
You've completed Stack 2 when you've identified your major leaks, prioritized them by ROI, and closed the high-impact ones. You're not just aware of inefficiency — you've captured margin that funds what comes next.
What this unlocks
- →Margin improvement you can show investors or lenders
- →Cost reduction that funds further sustainability investment
- →Operational improvements that satisfy bank due diligence
- →Evidence for grant applications requiring demonstrated efficiency gains
- →A tighter operation ready for Stack 3's circular value capture
The systemic impact
Every efficiency gain is also a resource reduction — less energy, less waste, fewer inputs for the same output. The cost savings and the emissions reductions are the same action. You're not doing sustainability work separately from operational work. Fixing a leak improves your margin and your environmental footprint simultaneously.
Common starting points
The energy bill shock
Energy costs jumped and you can't explain why. Stack 2 breaks down consumption by use, time, and equipment to find what's actually driving cost.
The margin squeeze
Prices are flat, costs are rising, margins are shrinking. Stack 2 finds the operational slack that's eating into profit.
The waste problem
You're paying too much for disposal, or losing too much material before it becomes product. Stack 2 maps where value is leaking out.
The capacity question
You think you need to invest in more capacity, but aren't sure you're using what you have. Stack 2 shows utilization reality.
What good looks like
A complete Stack 2 implementation means:
- ✓You have a prioritized list of efficiency opportunities with estimated ROI
- ✓You've closed the quick wins — high impact, low effort improvements
- ✓You can quantify the margin improvement from efficiency work
- ✓You have a roadmap for larger efficiency investments with clear payback timelines
- ✓Your operation is tight enough that circular initiatives won't just leak faster
You don't need to fix everything. You need to fix the leaks that matter most and have a system for catching new ones as they emerge.
Common mistakes
Optimizing without measuring
Jumping to solutions before you've mapped the problems. You might fix something that wasn't broken while ignoring the real leak. Stack 1 exists for a reason.
Chasing every leak
Some inefficiencies cost more to fix than they're worth. Prioritize by ROI, not by how annoying they are. A 2% leak that costs €50K to fix isn't worth it if a 5% leak costs €5K.
Ignoring the human layer
Process inefficiency is often people inefficiency in disguise — unclear responsibilities, poor communication, incentives that reward the wrong behavior. Technology won't fix culture.
One-time efficiency projects
Efficiency isn't a project with an end date. New leaks emerge as conditions change. Build ongoing detection, not just a point-in-time audit.
Ready to find your leaks?
Start with the free Efficiency assessment to identify your biggest opportunities, or get the complete toolkit to systematically map and close leaks.
Last updated: January 2026