Smart meters can do much more than provide a stream of measurements. But here is a catch: operators must know how they work. Here is a story to illustrate. Client installed a smart gas meter for a commercial kitchen. One year later gas supply is blocked. Meter blocked gas supply, it must be at [...]
I have recently come across a brief report on possible energy cost reduction projects in industrial baking prepared in the UK by Carbon Trust. Key points of this article: Tried and true solutions for efficiency In order to estimate costs for improvements and energy savings, the starting point is to ensure that you have [...]
Did you hear that sustainability drives profitability when product is sold to younger generation? This idea may help you secure support to energy projects from marketing and sales dept. Millennials name sustainability a shopping priority and are willing to pay more for it. In fact, Nielson study of 2015 has concluded that: “66% of [...]
Nowadays everybody agrees that Energy Management is important, even many C-levels agree. Still too often it is not done. Why is that? This 2003 article - Overcoming Barriers to Effective Energy Management in Industrial Settings - names several barriers which I list below with my comments: Lack of Organizational Commitment If senior management is [...]
Our South African colleague Craig van Wyk from VWG Consulting expressed a consideration very much worth republishing: if savings per unit are achieved and sustained in high-volume manufacturing, they keep mounting every hour of every day. Here is Craig's message: During my years in management in the high-volume manufacturing environment, prior to becoming a [...]
At a recent compressed air audit at plastic molding plant we found that bad design of compressed air system caused a 500t molding machine to produce scrap, unpredictably, from time to time. Client has just acquired this machine for $1.2mln to meet high throughput demand of their automotive client. With this scrap level they [...]
Our UK colleague Vilnis Vesma produced a funny article on how to waste energy. I republish it with his permission. Please note invitation to training at the end. This article is based on something Vilnis Vesma produced for a group of energy champions that he had been training. It was intended as a [...]
Energy is invisible. And so is energy waste. But it still costs. Often a lot. How to make energy waste visible in the boardroom? Here is a fast, simple and no-cost tool to assess how much energy your plant wastes Fast – takes 15 minutes, Simple – no research needed, plain English, no calculations [...]
I have recently come across a recommendation to shift production load of a big injection moulding machine to reduce demand during forecasted provincial peaks. If machine is loaded during day and not loaded during night and electricity is cheaper during night, then it seems like a no-brainer. I am not convinced in validity of [...]
Ever wondered what should you realistically expect from a particular efficiency project? I found an answer in a well-written white paper from EATON. The paper explains what results can be expected from different efficiency measures and what claims are just myths. Most of what is stated for commercial facilities is true for an industrial [...]
