3.4 Energy Saving Potentials and Energy Efficiency in Manufacturing
61
avoidance of peak loads, this method is not sufficient and requires the use of further performance indicators for the correct economic evaluation of implemented
optimizations.
3.4
Energy Saving Potentials and Energy Efficiency
in Manufacturing
3.4.1 Energy Saving Potentials in Manufacturing
Energy is a balance sheet item. Energy balances can be used as an effective analytical tool to plan and operate energy efficient factories [Mü+2009, p. 71]. Most
companies monitor the common performance targets like production outputs, quality as well as time and cost key indicators for their production units. Energy is
very rarely used as a performance indicator. Consequently, most companies do
not even know how much energy single machines, production lines or factory
areas are consuming. Energy saving potentials therefore remain undetected, as
the overall understanding for energy requirements and the knowledge about the
energetic behavior of the production are missing [He+2008, p. 12; Ha2013, p. 5].
As described in section 3.2.2, different energy efficiency levels (Figure 3.7
on page 44) can be addressed for optimizations. Energy saving potentials can be
identified for each level on both, a technical and an organizational view. While
optimizations on the technical site 12 include the usage of improved technical devices with a higher degree of efficiency as well as the installation of compensation
circuits and setups for the recycling of lost heat, organizational optimizations will
involve lower investments as they basically aim on the optimization of the load
management [We2010, p. 43]. This type of optimization is aiming at the avoidance of unnecessary consumption and the smoothing of energy requirements of
machines [VD2007, p. 58], for example by revising excessive process temperatures, by shutting down continuously operating heaters and by turning off machines
12 In the case studies of this work, it is assumed that all considered machines have the optimum
technical condition and are running, technically seen, energy-efficiently. The fact that this ideal
case is usually not found in the production is known by the author. The practical use cases
in this work include only already operating production lines. For the case of planned new or
replacement investments for the machine pool, it is recommended to the practice partner to
explicitly include the requirement for energy efficiency in the technical specifications for the
plant and, in addition to the investment costs, to also consider the operating costs (energy
costs, costs for maintenance, etc.) for the profitability analysis. According to Erlach, this is
called life-cycle costing and evaluates the costs of an asset over its entire life cycle [Er2014,
p. 54].
61
avoidance of peak loads, this method is not sufficient and requires the use of further performance indicators for the correct economic evaluation of implemented
optimizations.
3.4
Energy Saving Potentials and Energy Efficiency
in Manufacturing
3.4.1 Energy Saving Potentials in Manufacturing
Energy is a balance sheet item. Energy balances can be used as an effective analytical tool to plan and operate energy efficient factories [Mü+2009, p. 71]. Most
companies monitor the common performance targets like production outputs, quality as well as time and cost key indicators for their production units. Energy is
very rarely used as a performance indicator. Consequently, most companies do
not even know how much energy single machines, production lines or factory
areas are consuming. Energy saving potentials therefore remain undetected, as
the overall understanding for energy requirements and the knowledge about the
energetic behavior of the production are missing [He+2008, p. 12; Ha2013, p. 5].
As described in section 3.2.2, different energy efficiency levels (Figure 3.7
on page 44) can be addressed for optimizations. Energy saving potentials can be
identified for each level on both, a technical and an organizational view. While
optimizations on the technical site 12 include the usage of improved technical devices with a higher degree of efficiency as well as the installation of compensation
circuits and setups for the recycling of lost heat, organizational optimizations will
involve lower investments as they basically aim on the optimization of the load
management [We2010, p. 43]. This type of optimization is aiming at the avoidance of unnecessary consumption and the smoothing of energy requirements of
machines [VD2007, p. 58], for example by revising excessive process temperatures, by shutting down continuously operating heaters and by turning off machines
12 In the case studies of this work, it is assumed that all considered machines have the optimum
technical condition and are running, technically seen, energy-efficiently. The fact that this ideal
case is usually not found in the production is known by the author. The practical use cases
in this work include only already operating production lines. For the case of planned new or
replacement investments for the machine pool, it is recommended to the practice partner to
explicitly include the requirement for energy efficiency in the technical specifications for the
plant and, in addition to the investment costs, to also consider the operating costs (energy
costs, costs for maintenance, etc.) for the profitability analysis. According to Erlach, this is
called life-cycle costing and evaluates the costs of an asset over its entire life cycle [Er2014,
p. 54].