In this article
As energy costs keep rising in France, it is becoming more and more important for companies to find ways to reduce their energy consumption.
There are many ways to do this, including energy-efficient equipment, waste heat recovery and process optimisation.
> In this article, we look at some of the ways companies can save energy and reduce their carbon footprint along the way. We also look at the savings that these measures can bring.
By optimising its energy consumption, by what percentage can a company cut its costs?
25%
Our experts see up to 25% energy reduction
12 to 15%
According to field analyses, the average observed is a 12 to 15% reduction
hundreds of thousands
That represents several hundred thousand euros a year for some plants.
Paying operators more to save money? – Practical cases
Some companies have chosen to pay their operators 25% more on Saturdays, during off-peak production hours, with one weekday then taken as a rest day.
From an electricity point of view, consumption is cheaper at those times, so the total cost ends up lower than during the week.
What the KmProd MES brings – Practical cases
The scheduling provided by KmProd makes it possible to use only one furnace when production is reduced. Processes are grouped, prioritising the most energy-intensive production runs and then reducing the heat. The MES solution optimises the output of the parts that will cool the furnace, while avoiding unnecessary heating.
What uses the most energy in a company? How can consumption be reduced?
Heating the building for its occupants
The solution
Bring teams together, and switch to remote work when tasks can be done remotely.
Poor insulation
The solution
Call in a company to insulate or renovate the walls and ceilings of the premises.
Open-plan offices
The solution
Reduce their floor area and use separate heating circuits to make use of heated air and warm the spaces.
A Meta 2i customer story
One of our customers (Constellium) made the surplus heat produced by its furnaces available to the community, heating 40 buildings in the town of Issoire. More information in this article (in French)
7 simple steps to reduce a company’s energy consumption: actions to take right now!
1
First of all, it is important to inform your teams, and even your contractors, of the actions being taken and to explain why they matter. Changing processes also requires raising awareness.
2
Optimise processes to reduce production costs. It is essential to keep the same quality, efficiency and effectiveness.
3
Install containers to encourage materials recycling, without forgetting the cost of remelting or processing. Ask yourself where your materials come from and think about the “overall process”. For example, a material from a nearer region or country will probably cost more overall (production, transport, delivery, etc.).
4
Invest in new machines and train people in new technologies. Energy consumption used not to be an issue, and machines were not designed with it in mind. Today you need reliable, recent and suitable tools to comply with new standards and keep up with your competitors technologically. These investment choices matter for your production.
5
Gather feedback from your teams. As things change, your teams will probably have feedback or suggestions. Analyse them and adapt your methods accordingly. Listen to them so that you can bring them on board.
6
Analyse your shop-floor data and draw actions from it. Meta 2i helps its users understand their data. Our experts know how to interpret your figures so that the best decisions are made together with you.
7
Limit paper printing by reminding people to print only when necessary (in your emails or directly on your printers).
Other optimisation opportunities for industry, in every sector
Identify where your electricity goes
- Identify the machines that consume power while they are not in use. Are they needed at every stage of the job and of production?
- Ask someone to produce a video tutorial, or even a single A4 sheet, explaining how to use certain tools or how to put them on standby.
- Schedule switch-on times for some equipment, or even fit sensors so that a detector is triggered when someone arrives (switching on and warming up, for example, rather than permanent standby).
- Rethink how you heat your offices: is it better to lower the temperature by 4 or 5 degrees at weekends, or to heat normally on the weekday when most people are in?
Remember that heating poorly insulated premises wastes money. Insulate your rooms first so that heat is not lost.
- Train people to shut down their equipment: prevention and documentation are essential so that teams master their equipment.
> For example, in some industries, if staff forget to shut down furnaces properly, this can cause quality problems and also waste energy. On the other hand, in some very specific cases, the temperature and pressure need to stay constant. Quality must always be maintained, never downgraded.
A real case, after analysing production with KmProd: a furnace kept heating all weekend.
Every production stop saves energy.
> Saving 2 days out of 7 of energy consumption means a theoretical reduction of 20–25%; in practice, savings of 15% are achievable (many of our KmProd users run electric or gas furnaces).
Managing water consumption and quality
You probably do not need clean water throughout your whole plant. A department or production shop may be able to run without drinking water, and it can also use recycled water to supply its heating.
Recycling consumables
Beyond using less paper or going paperless, there are other ways to control consumables.
A customer case observed through KmProd: a shop’s tools were cleaned “by default” in a caustic soda bath. Yet this is an expensive consumable, and some tools do not need this cleaning to stay in use.
Bonus: why use a MES such as KmProd in industry?
A solution such as KmProd helps you find the best compromise and plan ahead, with production driven by your data.
A MES lets you optimise your production shops. The expertise of Meta 2i, publisher of KmProd, extends to consulting and to the development of its production tracking software.
Our MES solution is scalable. It includes:
Tracking of all production.
Management of the company’s 4 resources (people, energy, machines and materials).
Industrial and energy optimisation.
Continuous improvement of your processes.
Multi-site, multi-language software.
An SDK to extend the product.
To discover our operational features, visit our page.
In conclusion
In the face of rising energy costs, industrial companies need to find ways to reduce this budget. The key? Ask the right questions, make employees aware of the importance of energy sobriety, prioritise needs and budgets and, finally, put in place measures to reduce energy consumption.
It may seem like a challenge, but there are many ways to reduce your spending. That is the mission Meta 2i’s experts have set themselves.
If you would like to know more about using a MES to drive your energy actions and save money on your production, contact us today.
President of Meta 2i
