Uncover the potential of energy efficiency in manufacturing, a catalyst for cost savings and emissions reduction. Ecolibrium's SmartSense platform leads the charge, offering up to 20% lower SEC and a remarkable 27% decrease in operating costs. Discover a new era of sustainable prosperity with Ecolibrium's innovative solution, propelling factories towards unprecedented operational excellence and sustainability.
On 04 October 2023, as we commemorate Energy Efficiency Day, we recognise the untapped abundance of potential nestled within bustling factories – one that holds the power to revolutionise operations, dramatically save on costs, increase profits, and elevate sustainability standards. It's not hidden in a new product line or a breakthrough business strategy but rather in the lifeblood of your factory. This observance is a powerful reminder of energy conservation's pivotal role in driving economic prosperity and environmental well-being.
Energy efficiency: a dual solution.
In manufacturing, operational excellence is the cornerstone of business leadership. There’s constant pressure to amplify quality output and trim production costs while saving energy. After all, the manufacturing and production sector accounts for one-fifth of global carbon emissions and 54% of the world’s energy usage.1 As energy expenses surge and environmental consciousness grows, manufacturers seek avenues to curtail energy use and bolster their sustainability efforts. In this scenario, energy efficiency stands as a dual solution.
One of the main benefits of energy efficiency is cost savings. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), organisations can realise substantial savings, ranging from 10% to an impressive 30% on their energy costs2, simply by adopting energy efficiency measures, thus positively impacting the bottom line. By optimising energy consumption, businesses can also significantly increase productivity. Efficiency stands at the core of economic advantage, leading to reduced maintenance costs and amplified production yields per input unit. Furthermore, it also results in improved uptime.
Another crucial impact of energy efficiency is its central role in curbing emissions. It is one of the critical pathways for the world to meet energy demands with low energy usage. According to the IEA’s Efficient World Scenario (EWS), energy efficiency could deliver a reduction in annual energy-related emissions of 3.5 Gt CO2-eq (12%) compared with 2017 levels, delivering over 40% of the deduction required to be in line with the Paris Agreement.3 These multifaceted benefits underscore why prioritising energy efficiency is essential for businesses striving for operational excellence, sustainability, and sustained profitability.
However, a few challenges remain. In many factories, there’s a lack of clarity on which processes consume the most energy and the factors influencing their consumption.4 Structured data availability is crucial for energy efficiency, but precise energy use details are often absent. Hence, there's a growing demand for enhanced energy data visibility. Here’s where technology comes in.
The Ecolibrium approach to energy efficiency in manufacturing.
We have just the right solution at Ecolibrium to overcome the above obstacles. Our AI-driven platform, SmartSense, can help you reduce your factory’s Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) per component by 20% while lowering your operating costs by 27%.5 That’s just the beginning! You can even increase your business productivity by 11% with SmartSense. Our application library covers 60% of equipment in a manufacturing plant. With proprietary machine learning algorithms, SmartSense assimilates data points from energy-consuming assets and creates an intelligence network enabling its users to make informed decisions on energy efficiency and predictive maintenance.
Thus, SmartSense does not just optimise energy & maintenance costs and reduces equipment idle time, leading to operational excellence, but also positively impacts sustainability. It helps you track and improve the carbon footprint per SKU across the portfolio and assists with compliance reporting needs.
Here’s a sneak peek at what we’ve delivered.
One of the world’s largest manufacturers of precision tubes applied the SmartSense solution at their factory. They faced several hindrances related to energy accounting, SEC, energy-saving opportunities, and machine availability within their manufacturing process. Real-time data and actionable insights from SmartSense led to a 15% reduction in carbon emissions per tonne produced and annual savings of $300K.
If you want to learn more about SmartSense and how we can help you, contact our team here. The Ecolibrium solution is designed to enable you to achieve sustainable prosperity – a harmonious balance between people, the planet, and profit.
For leaders and stakeholders, the pursuit of operational excellence is foundational. Thus, it's imperative to realise that energy efficiency isn't just about sustainability—it's also a key factor for boosting productivity gains.
Bibliography
1 Editorial Staff. Reducing the carbon footprint of the manufacturing industry through data sharing. World Economic Forum. [online] https://www.weforum.org/impact/carbon-footprint-manufacturing-industry/
2 Editorial Staff, 2023. The impact of energy management systems on reducing operational costs. Energy5. [online] https://energy5.com/the-impact-of-energy-management-systems-on-reducing-operational-costs
3 Editorial Staff, 2019. Multiple Benefits of Energy Efficiency. IEA. [online] https://www.iea.org/reports/multiple-benefits-of-energy-efficiency
4 Nabati, E. G., Alvela Nieto, M. T., Bode, D., Schindler, T. F., Decker, A., & Thoben, K. D., 2022. Challenges of manufacturing for energy efficiency: towards a systematic approach through applications of machine learning. Production, 32. https://www.scielo.br/j/prod/a/GrvTRQkMFnBVGgLBp7FCg7q/?format=pdf&lang=en
5 Percentages based on average results achieved for Ecolibrium clients to date.
