Big Data & IoT
ASSET ADVICE
Andy Graham of SolutionsPT looks at the role of automation software and data analytics
in unlocking hidden energy savings and increasing efficiency for manufacturers.
T
he challenges currently
facing UK manufacturers
have never been
greater, with increasing
price pressure, rising
production energy costs, supply
chain volatility and ever changing
regulations having an impact.
Each of these issues has a direct
impact on operational expenditure,
leaving margin and profit under threat.
Under pressure to ensure the end
price for the consumer remains the
same – or lower – the only logical
course of action is for manufacturers
to safeguard or claw back margin by
lowering operational costs through
eliminating inefficiencies.
Energy spend
One area where manufacturers can
look to make these much needed
savings is in their energy spend.
Becoming energy efficient provides
manufacturers with a specific set of
challenges, combining both regulatory
and commercial considerations,
meaning effective energy
management is no longer an option;
it’s a strategic business necessity and
unlocking the hidden value of Big
Data holds the key.
‘Big Data’ is the term given to
a set of information so vast and
complex that conventional database
management tools or traditional data
22
processing applications are incapable
of handling such huge volumes. An
average manufacturing site readily
generates tens of millions of data
points every day and can require this
data to be stored for many years.
Despite having access to
huge amounts of data, not all
manufacturers are using it as
strategically. Many companies
have already invested in a data
infrastructure but don’t realise the
extent of the data they are currently
collecting and how it could be
analysed and applied for business
improvement. Simply put, they have
a huge data asset that they are not
making the most of. In these harsh
economic times, where the emphasis
is on increasing productivity without
increasing capital investment, it
would make sense to squeeze as
much benefit from this data asset
as possible. So, how can we realise
the potential of Big Data and make it
work for energy management?
Energy consumption in
manufacturing facilities can
be reduced by using the latest
automated technologies, more
efficient equipment and through
improved monitoring and control
of energy used in infrastructure.
This software and data based
approach is increasingly popular
with UK manufacturers who have
either exhausted other methods
or find the cost to modernise their
entire infrastructure prohibitive. For
many, the prospect of a complete
infrastructure upgrade is impractical
but, through the implementation
of Corporate Energy Management
solutions, businesses can develop
a stronger and more insightful
understanding of their operations,
and are able to visualise their energy
use and see any inefficiencies.
Used effectively, such solutions can
allow operatives to monitor real time
energy usage and automatically
notify operators, supervisors and
management of energy inefficiencies
and waste.
Information framework
Recently, one of the largest beverage
manufacturers in the world wanted
to improve the way it monitored
its energy usage. Smart metering
theoretically allowed the company
to track consumption but the data
was stored in an isolated database
and only ever reviewed on an ad hoc
basis, so was therefore of limited
use. As part of a pilot scheme, the
company implemented Wonderware
Intelligence, an Operational
Intelligence (OI) product that
creates an information framework to
simultaneously connect to industrial
data sources and to automate