Developing permanent energy monitoring capabilities is a complex undertaking which requires careful hardware considerations and the deployment of a digital infrastructure. In response, NCC has developed an energy monitoring testbed and new digital capabilities to enable manufacturers and technology providers to explore solutions.
Sustainability measures such as Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and product Carbon Accounting are set to become non-negotiable requirements for manufacturers and engineering businesses in tomorrow’s economy.
When combined with other data streams, data captured from permanent energy monitoring makes it easier for organisations to fulfil these obligations, in addition to surfacing valuable insights to help reduce costs.
Challenge
As part of the Manufacturing Energy Toolkit project from the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, NCC installed energy monitoring sensors on a range of factory-floor machines for a group of UK SMEs. In this trial project, data obtained from energy monitoring was used to identify that:
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One business could save £1,100 per annum simply by switching off machines overnight
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Another company had a machine with significantly higher consumption than others at the facility (later prioritised for reducing costs); and
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A third manufacturer had a machine with a phase imbalance requiring further analysis.
The project demonstrated how energy use data can reduce business costs, identify opportunities for efficiencies, and flag equipment issues before they become critical.
However, this example of energy monitoring is limited in nature: a single sensor in isolation cannot recognise or account for changes in a machine’s use. To harness energy data for carbon accounting, it must be combined with other data streams (such as cycle start/stop times or job/product ID) to contextualise energy use.
Innovation
As part of NCC’s Capability Development and Core technology programmes, in-house experts installed permanent energy monitoring sensors on nine machines across our R&D facility, with data feeding into a digital infrastructure.
Energy monitoring sensors are not one-size-fits-all: they require different power sources, use either wired or wireless transmissions, and provide varying levels of insight. NCC’s team deployed a range of different sensors across the facility, balancing considerations such as machine type, sensor complexity and desired data to identify the most suitable hardware in each instance.
Crucially, the sensors were integrated with NCC’s Internet of Things (IoT) platform, built using the centre’s digital expertise to ingest and standardise energy use data (in addition to other digital engineering applications).
Due to the range of sensors used, it was essential that the IoT platform could interpret data in multiple formats and via a range of communication protocols. By processing and standardising captured data, energy consumption can be compared across the facility and combined with other data streams, allowing it to be utilised for carbon accounting and other valuable applications.
Impact - Cost savings, actionable insights and regulatory compliance
Energy usage data is an essential data set for LCAs - and permanent energy monitoring enables continuous data capture for scope 1 and 2 embodied carbon reporting. This proven capability enables businesses t o understand the environmental impact of their processes and meet present and future demands from legislators, investors and consumers by accurately accounting for the embodied carbon of both individual products and wider operations.
Permanent energy monitoring can also surface actionable insights to drive efficiencies and reduce costs:
- Predictive Maintenance – Continuous energy data can be compared in real-time across machines in a facility to identify individual machines with drops in performance.
- Efficiency Insights – Energy use data for an individual machine can be compared against other data points to highlight specific instances of manufacturing inefficiencies.
- Facility-Level Energy Insights - Site-wide energy use data can provide insights on energy usage of the entire facility, informing decision making and investments around electricity tariffs, solar or wind installations, and more.
Results & Next steps – A digital testbed for innovation
Joseph Reffitt, Deputy Chief Engineer, Digital at NCC said:
“Through the successful implementation of permanent energy monitoring at NCC, we have created a unique open-access testbed for manufacturers and technology providers alike, enabling businesses to de-risk energy monitoring investments by conducting tests in a representative environment.
With our digital expertise, insights from this project enable NCC to offer impartial advice on the often-confusing issue of sensor selection and considerations around an accompanying digital infrastructure that fits their business needs and environmental goals.”
To discuss our Sustainability Transformation service, and how energy monitoring can benefit your business, contact our digital team.