One of the fundamental key strategies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution ignores efficient energy use. The waste produced in factories in previous years must become a thing of the past. In general terms, according to the Spanish Association for Quality (AEC), energy management “optimises energy consumption by using it in a rational and efficient way, without reducing performance levels.” The last part of this sentence is essential to understanding what we are talking about, which is the challenge of consuming less energy without jeopardising the quality of our products, our safety procedures, nor the productivity of our resources. The optimisation of energy resources is no longer an option, but an obligation.
Reducing the impact of climate change
Years ago, reducing the emission of greenhouse gases or waste management were proposed as the two greatest ways to slow down climate change. Despite the efforts made by one part of the international community, there are still many challenges in this area. In order to fight climate change, companies, governments and institutions must work hand in hand, each one playing their part.
For instance, when it comes to big and small companies, they must gradually migrate towards green technology that allows us to be more sustainable in our factory and towards the environment. Progressively substituting traditional energy resources with renewable ones is vital in order to achieve our objective.
Energy Conservation
Reducing energy consumption will clearly result in savings and an increase in profits. However, it is necessary to be careful: the implementation of new energy conservation measures should not, under no circumstances, be detrimental to the safety, yield and quality of the final product. Hence, this is why it is called waste management and not simply energy reduction. Good energy management produces an economic profit without altering one of the three parameters mentioned above. The goal is to produce the same amount of energy, but produce less waste. For this reason, it is fundamental to install intelligent systems such as MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems) in our factory, as they allow us to put into practice the decisions made about energy efficiency.
Planning and objectives
In order to develop a de facto reduction and energy management policy, this process will need to be analysed, by planning which actions to carry out, and at the same establishing some general and secondary objectives. In fact, the implementation of a new waste management policy cannot be improvised or rushed. It is necessary to know what costs the whole process will entail, as well as the risks and the profits that wished to be made, amongst other aspects. To achieve this, the efficiency of current policies will need to be revised, processes will need to be carefully monitored, records will need to be kept up to date, and strategic planning will be necessary so that no stone will be left unturned. Improvisation, as is almost always the case, does not often offer a helping hand with effective waste management.
MES is designed to improve efficiency, productivity, profitability and performance in our factories.
MES
Installing good systems such as MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems) in your factory, will greatly help you move towards the implementation of new production measures that will allow you to save energy without jeopardising the productivity, quality or security of your factory. These manufacturing systems, designed to improve efficiency, productivity, profitability and performance in factories, will allow you to completely control the consumption of auxiliary services that require the production processes of your factory. This will serve as a starting point to optimising the energy use of all of these services.
