To optimize energy use, your plant needs the right data—here’s why

The race is on to lower energy costs in manufacturing. According to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the industrial sector alone accounts for 33% of total U.S. energy consumption. Globally, the International Energy Agency says the sector makes up 37% of energy use.

Bringing this number down could not only help individual plants and facilities save money but also reduce environmental impact, conserve resources and potentially create more stable energy prices.

There are many approaches that can be taken to optimize energy use, from investing in energy-efficient equipment and installing smart meters to adjusting production schedules and implementing demand response programs. There’s no right or wrong answer when every environment—and its energy usage—is different. But no matter which path you choose, one thing holds true: Data is the only way to determine how and where you can optimize energy use to make the biggest impact. Otherwise, you’re simply making educated guesses.

The right data can act as your decision-making guide, showing you where to go and what to do. But you need to be able to access data that isn’t instantly visible or readily available. When you can, you’ll be able to make better decisions about monitoring and managing energy.

Here are three examples of the difference data can make when it comes to optimizing energy use.

1. Monitoring consumption in real-time vs. intermittent audits

Without reliable data, the only information you can rely on comes from energy audits. These tend to be conducted sporadically rather than on a regular basis. Even when they are conducted regularly, they look backward instead of taking a real-time look at your environment. As a result, they’ll likely lead you only to issues that have become readily apparent instead of helping you proactively seek out areas for improvement.

This means that many more subtle inefficiencies may go unnoticed, and the impact of improvements may not be monitored or evaluated effectively.

With reliable data captured through avenues like equipment monitoring, you can be confident that you have an in-depth understanding of real-time use and efficiency opportunities as they arise.

2. Focusing only on energy consumption vs. energy procurement

A comprehensive plan to optimize energy use includes strategies to reduce power consumption and procure power cost-effectively.

When data is lacking, efforts to optimize energy use may focus solely on reducing consumption rather than considering how energy is procured and whether it’s purchased in the most cost-effective way.

To make smart procurement decisions, your energy, operations, finance and facilities leaders need to understand things like:

• Historical energy consumption patterns so you can negotiate favorable contracts and choose pricing that aligns with your consumption.
  
  
• Production schedules, operational changes and market conditions to predict future energy needs and plan ahead to get the best possible rates without over-purchasing or under-purchasing.
  
  
• When and where energy is being used to determine when to purchase energy and how to structure contracts accordingly.
  
  
• Consumption patterns that might allow you to take advantage of integrating renewable energy sources, access lower rates during off-peak hours or receive incentives for lowering use during peak periods.

3. Prioritizing short-term ROI projects vs. long-term gains

The lack of comprehensive, real-time data about energy consumption creates an environment where leaders often have no choice but to prioritize short-term return on investment (ROI) strategies.

Investments with long-term ROI can be harder to justify without the right information to back them up, especially if they call for substantial upfront investments and have lengthy ROI periods. Otherwise, inexpensive, shorter-term projects with immediate benefits will be easier to champion.

Data also helps you monitor and assess energy optimization initiatives. Without that real-time information, you won’t be able to follow along with the progress and effectiveness of improvements that have been made. This makes it more difficult to prove their value and gather support for similar initiatives.

Where does all this ‘data’ come from?

Data to optimize energy use can come from many places:

• Sensors (temperature, pressure, etc.) and smart meters can monitor and report on real-time usage across equipment to help you identify patterns, pinpoint times of peak usage and find out where energy is wasted. They can also gather information about production processes and schedules to help you find ways to improve.
  
  
• SCADA systems can collect and analyze real-time data from control systems and devices that impact energy consumption.
  
  
• Building management systems can report on energy use from systems like lighting and HVAC.
  
  
• Energy management software can provide a comprehensive view of consumption.
  
  
• Maintenance management systems can help predict maintenance needs and prevent energy waste caused by equipment failure or poor performance.
  
  
• PLCs can report on production line performance.

All this data can be brought together into a centralized platform for further analysis and understanding of patterns, inefficiencies and trends.

Based on the insights you gain, you can then make changes and decisions accordingly. For example, perhaps the data reveals that an adjustment to your production schedule will help avoid heavy operation during periods of peak demand so you can reduce costs. This decision could be made by mapping current production and employee schedules with data about high-energy-usage periods, along with data about hourly energy consumption and associated costs.

Empowering your operations

Belden and its partners can help your plant optimize energy use to reduce costs, boost efficiency and improve sustainability. The experts in our Customer Innovation Center help you build a foundation for operational efficiency by leveraging your real-time data.

Our hardware and software can be combined with offerings from our partners to create complete connection solutions that transform field-level data into real-time insights so you can achieve the outcomes you’re looking for.

Learn about our Customer Innovation Center

Related links:

• The Time to Build a Foundation for Energy Transition Is Now
• 4 Ways that POLAN Can Contribute to Sustainability Efforts
• How Digitalization and Data Optimization Increase Manufacturing Competitiveness