Environmental challenges in a rapidly changing world

An effective energy management programme not only helps UK manufacturers meet tighter legislation limits and can gain the important ISO 14001, 18001 and 9001 Standards. When applied as part of overall business strategy, it can improve productivity and reduce operational costs.

By using a combination of site audits and metering systems to draw up achievable energy saving KPIs for customers, we can identify the key energy and resource management challenges.

More than ever before, the UK manufacturing industries need to be able to adapt quickly to rapidly changing environmental conditions and exhibit a much greater understanding and awareness of green issues.

With tightening legislation UK businesses can no longer afford to ignore green issues and the implications for all aspects of their manufacturing operation from presence-sensitive lighting in corridors to recycling production waste materials.

Every responsible business has a duty to look at ways to cut costs and usage levels as global energy prices continue to rise. This not only includes looking at ways to work more efficiently but to consider more unconventional energy saving practices such as waste water recycling and renewable energy sources such as solar and wind.

Industry research has shown that around 20% of compressed air usage in a production facility is lost through leakage. Identifying and combating inefficient energy usage like this is a simple way to tackle waste which many manufacturers are not even aware of.  Closely tied to achieving this type of energy saving is the ability to monitor and improve equipment functionality.  This can be done through metering systems and the connected environment provided by smart manufacturing.

Optimising energy efficiency & resource management

Competition across the manufacturing sector is driving production innovation and a critical part of this is efficient long-term energy management. In response SMC offers a unique partnership-based approach to customer relationships that takes a holistic view to solving your energy management and resource business challenges.

Our Energy Management Solutions Strategy focuses on four core elements of the manufacturing process:

• production equipment efficiency– identify the pneumatic products and control systems key to optimising the energy and resource input of your manufacturing operation
• energy usage – assess all aspects of energy usage in your manufacturing chain and improve resource deployment through energy management studies and partner seminars
• change team thinking – devise and implement routes to optimise new thinking and approaches to energy usage and resource deployment within your management, workforce and sales team
• embed energy management values – build an understanding of your business’s energy management values to ensure best practice and improved energy management and resource usage across all aspects of the manufacturing operation and engineering staff training.

Using this comprehensive data collection as a template, we work with you to develop a durable business solution to your energy management issues with defined goals and the right team of people to deliver them.

For example, a site audit could report something this:

For more information on SMC’s energy saving activities checkout: www.smc.uk