ENERGY EFFICIENT IDEAS FOR MANUFACTURING

June 20, 2022 5:36 pm

Automation and energy efficiency are the perceived factors for preventive maintenance and corrective actions, for which data analyses of each component and process needs to be considered, opine industry experts.

Energy efficiency is an increasing concernaround the world. Much of energyconsumption implies an increasing carbonfootprint endangering the environment.Energy-efficient manufacturing means linkingenergy and production data. This will helpanalyze and optimize energy consumptionand the energy productivity of machines,plants, and processes. Operating procedureslike scheduling shut-downs and start-ups,scheduled production floor, and regularmaintenance can lower industrial energy costs.Management of energy flows within a factoryrelies on measurement quantities to formulatetargets. IoT-based real-time monitoringsystems is an effective measure to analyze datafor energy usage. It provides the optimizationof energy supply needs and consumption.This will result in CO2 emission reduction andfactory operation costs. Adding new robotsdoing inspections can enable direct energysavings for factory manufacturing activities.India is rapidly growing up for IoT solutions,and new answers may impact manufacturingproductions to increase with AI and IIoT.The primary technology advancement is inoptimizing production. Robotics is a keyperformance area where the productioncapacity of any industry will be increasedmultiple times. Hence, robotics has goodexposure in the field of digitalization andimplementation. This will give a boost to themanufacturing industry. Elucidating further,Mr. Chaitanya Patel , Head of InformationSolution at Servilink Systems Limited says, “Bigdata analytics and the artificial intelligence willallow implementation of the machine learningsolutions to optimize the performance of thebrand assets as well as the human performance.This will give the industry more insight intohow the plant performance is going on.” Andconsequently, management can take correctiveaction to improve productivity. For the workingvoltage of the surveillance system, evaluatingor designing the system architecture in termsof the client’s requirements is a must.Next-gen manufacturing with industry 4.0The digitalization era has unfolded, andnext-gen manufacturing with industry 4.0 tooptimize production has taken the front seat.The present trend is toward digitization of thedata. There is a need to integrate data retrievalsystem into the process. Once data is availableMachine wise analysis can be evaluated. Usingsuch analytics, preventive maintenance can beeffected.The analytics and IoT can indicate when to takepreventive action, thus helping to reduce the machine downtime. It helps to inform the concernedtask force to do machine maintenance.

Further,Cybersecurity, an industrial solution, has to be in place.When we are connecting operational technology withthe IT infrastructure, IT and OT integration is needed.So, implement the hardware and software firewallto secure the operating technology control systemswith the IT infrastructure. The hardware firewall isrequired and must be implemented at the level ofindustrial standards.Innovative mechanismsFor Industry 4.0 and harmonics and for savingcost and energy optimization, more innovativemechanisms are available to deal with critical factorswith the increasing adoption of the digital age.The first step is taking the data on the utility sidebecause without data visibility, no analysis can bedone, and no action can be taken to help in energysavings. Voicing his opinion, Mr. Anil Sagar, Director,Renata Enviro com Pvt. Ltd., remarks, “Getting data isthe first step, and within that data itself, two steps arecontained therein. The first one is the connectivity,so a viable option is connecting with the sensors,the PLC, the machines, and the meters.” WhetherFlow Meters are connected or any other kinds ofthe appliance are there to monitor. Then whatevermetering item on that appliance can be associatedwith that. Connectivity is first, so integration ofprotocol gets established.The second step is getting the correct data. Forinstance, in smart energy meters, voltage, current,power, energy, harmonics, power factor signals,etc., are there. Once connectivity is established, thecorrect data is procured to understand and analysethat data unless it is known how to use that datahowto understand that functionality, or analysis,based on various data points- the question of takingaction based on analysis cannot arrive.Energy-saving solutions to reduce downtimeThe prime issue lies in the power factor needing tobe corrected on the Machine or the transformer. Thesecond issue is harmonics. It should be ascertainedwhich harmonics are there, and which levelsof harmonics are there! Are they coming fromany source! Or it is needed to be curbed on thedistribution! Are they on the compressor or CNCmachines? That requires diving deeper into thatlevel of data understanding to get the right solution.And, if compression of air or gases is involved, thento prevent all the leakages, it has to be found out atwhich location the leakage is happening.Getting insight into the appliances, for example, thecompressor providing the compressed air needs to beknown if it is running efficiently. Compare the flowof compressed air and the energy that is consumed.If the flow is the same, but the compressor’s energyconsumption is increasing, then the compressorneeds to be serviced. It implies the need to have anexcellent understanding of various aspects on theutility and production sides.Considering Industry 4.0, on the production side,several things must be noted. For example, onthe Machine, downtime prevention is critical forchecking availability. That defines how to increaseproductivity, then the cycle time. Another point tobe considered is how fast the product is made or areyou compromising on the quality! A slow processmeans losing out on the revenue. Also, quality-wiseto be known, what are the defects, and how manyflaws are produced per 100 units? That has to beminimised. It is here the whole OEE picture comesinto play. Besides that, there are various data pointson the machine parameters, for example, spindlespeed, spindle length, and angle on the CNC side.There could be various parameters on different kindsof machines. Using such parameters and deviationprovide a clue towards preventive maintenanceand preventing downtime of the Machine. And, ifdowntime on the Machine is achieved, failures ofthe Machine can be prevented as well. Other aspectsinvolved are workforce productivity; raw materialusage tracking etc. Consequently, that means getting the right message for the correct department.Hence, analyses of the available data lead to the kind ofsolution needed to deploy and opens opportunities forconsulting and solution.

Clean energy usage for energy efficiencyDecarbonizing energy-intensive industries and introducingmore clean energy into manufacturing operationsincreases energy efficiency. Many industries are movingin that direction. Solar is one key. The other one dependson the kind of machines and the kind of setup. Look atall those energy-efficient ways or resources that can bringdown the overall energy bill. First, the resource type is one;then, look at where all the energy is utilized, and how youcan decarbonize the whole energy usage in your industry.Where are the big energy guzzlers; look at the 80-20principle, and after picking those items, find a solution,how to decrease energy usage there. Mr. Anil elaborates onenergy effectiveness, “While focusing on the productionand manpower productivity, the focus should be on energyefficiency usage.” If that focus is there, then there areseveral intelligent experts available in the market whocan help out for energy-efficient use of energy in variousaspects of your factory.Mr. Karthikeyan A., Assistant Manager, Festo India Pvt. Ltd.,is convinced that creating an Energy efficiency modulehas been advantageous. Further, he adds, “The field isshifting towards a higher level of intelligence, from normalpneumatics to technologies, precisely.” Therefore, each hasits strength, and we are moving to the other levels. Shortlyin the future, there will be pneumatic robots that can beused for pick and place applications, which would alsosolve energy efficiency in manufacturing industries.Being energy efficient is the key to helping companiesachieve sustainability goals, reducing costs, andultimately making them more competitive and resilient.Many companies are effectively engaged in creatingenergy-efficient solutions for manufacturing andproviding innovative solutions. It is a movement in theright direction.