Founded in 2008, Hara Technologies is solving several key problems for energy producers and large manufactureres: diagnosis and improvement of a manufactures efficiency in using energy and natural resources.
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Its differentiation is : delivers a holistic view of natural resource usage and impact, from energy, to natural gas, to water, all in the context of a carbon footprint.
In 1994, a technology start-up offering natural resources and energy management software might have disappointed its investors and employees, but Hara Software, founded in 2008 and operating in 2009, is proving the importance of timing, having already brought success with some big-name manufacturing customers.
Hara — the name is a Sanskrit word meaning “fresh green” — is serving the growing ranks of efficiency-minded manufacturers with its Environmental & Energy Management platform. Organized around four key modules, the Discover component delivers a 360 degree view of a manufacturer’s natural gas, water, and electricity usage, as well as metrics on what it emits in terms of greenhouse gases, solid waste, and water waste. This is done all in the context of viewing its total byproduct: the carbon footprint. The Plan module is a decision-support tool that defines the trade-offs needed in order to reach efficiency targets. The Act module helps a company adjust levers within its operations, creating more energy-efficient operations or contracting with more effiiceint suppliers. To reach its goals, the Innovate tool facilitates sharing of best practices throughout an organization.
Coca-Cola is an early adopted. Bryan Jacob, director of energy management and climate protection at the beverage giant, says that when the company first saw Hara’s software late in 2008, the synergies were evident. In a pilot implementation to track energy and greenhouse gas efficiency, the software delivered more insight into Coca-Cola’s environmental impact than the homegrown relational database it had used for a number of years. Facilities managers at 12 locations kept track of their carbon footprints and monitored reduction actions in the Hara system. “It marries up the reporting piece with the forecasting and target-setting piece [and] the tracking of actions,” Jacob says, “all in one-stop shopping.”
The ROI from the pilot met all of the company’s expectations, and Jacob has recommended continuing with the tool in the next budget cycle. The software “will evolve over time and only get better,” he says. “It’s already starting at a sophisticated level.”
Farinacci says Hara wants to help manufacturers become eco-friendly, “but profit while doing so, so that minimizing their environmental impact makes business sense to [them].”
