Confidentiality Agreement

During and prior to our visit to a plant, we collect some data that will help us in calculating cost savings of recommended ideas. All such data are treated as confidential information. As a result, we do not associate a company's name with the data in any discussions or vendors without permission from the plant. The company's name will not appear in the report. However, to insure continued high quality service, all our reports are reviewed by the United States Department of Energy's (DOE) field manager who funds this project. The field manager has reviewed our reports for about 20 years, more than 460 assessments with no confidentiality problems. Some data is entered into a national database available for public access on the Internet at http://iac.university/. The name remains anonymous in the database, and the database doesn't associate plant names with any specific plant information: production, operation, or cost. This database is a valuable tool for manufacturers and researchers who want to know the savings of various types of projects.

Our work at a particular plant may be a good subject for a future case study to be published or posted at our web site. However, such a case study will be subject to the plant's review and approval. In addition, DOE or DOE's field manager may request a full or partial list of plants we have served, primarily for a follow-up interview. The list will not associate plant names with report numbers or any company data and information. If a company is selected for further contact, the field manager will call the contact person to conduct a brief interview about the program. The interview is for verification or for follow-up purposes, to justify continued funding of the program.