Eric Unterberger

Scenario Based Method to Increase the Flexibility of Energy Use in Production Systems

The paper presents a method to increase the energy flexibility of production systems, establishing a tool to increase the energy flexibility by using the scenario technique. First of all barriers and possible modifications to influence the energy consumption have to be identified. Afterwards, measures can be designed order to address these obstacles. Impacts of the energy conduct on the material flow and production performance indicators will be investigated. These results are necessary for investment decisions for future production plants.

Energy Concepts for Manufacturing Companies

Industry is one of the major energy consumers in order to fulfill the social responsibility of the energy turnaround, with the result to involve companies to use their own generated renewable energy. This objective poses sever challenges for industry. The occurring volatile energy can only be handled by an energy flexible production, which allows the adaption of different energy levels. These must be defined already in the planning stages, so that the production can react to the varying energy availability. A harmonized energy supply and energy demand requires a method to plan both systems.

Steigerung der Energieflexibilität von Fabriken

Kurzfassung Die Energieflexibilität von Fabriken muss aufgrund des Ausbaus erneuerbarer Energien und der wachesenden Nachfrage zur Anpassung des Energiebedarfs gesteigert werden. Zu diesem Zweck gilt es Flexibilitätspotenziale zu erkennen und gezielt auszubauen. Diese können anschließend in der Betriebsphase zur Steuerung des Energiebedarfs eingesetzt werden. Im vorliegenden Beitrag soll auf die Steigerung der Energieflexibilität eingegangen und ein Vorgehen vorgestellt werden.

A Comparison of Indicators for Self-Sufficient Energy Systems

Industry is one of the major energy consumers in Germany. In order to fulfil the social responsibility of the energy revolution, companies required to install and to use their own renewable energy. With the increasing set-up of renewable energy systems at the production site, these companies are interested in consuming most of the energy directly on-site. Based on a material flow simulation of the Green Factory Bavaria in Augsburg, this paper compares different indicators for the energy self-sufficiency. Finally the effect of electrical energy storage to increase the energy self-sufficiency is examined.

Factors for Effective Learning in Production Networks to Improve Environmental Performance

There is evidence that the environmental performances of factories operating under similar circumstances vary greatly, even within one company. This indicates that production sites are operated in different ways which suggests a potential for improvement. Previous research shows that collaboration within production networks can improve factory performance. Learning collaboratively across factories is a promising approach to reduce the environmental impact of production sites. Several companies recognised this opportunity. Processes and systems to support knowledge and know-how exchange within their production network are already in place. In this research a literature review and interviews were carried out to explore factors that influence learning between factories. Such factors are critical to develop an effective tool enabling learning across factories and thus environmental performance improvements.

Life Cycle Assessment Tool in the Early Stage of Development

Life cycle assessment is becoming increasingly important for industry. Like the economic impact the ecological impact is mainly determined in the early stage of development. The challenge in this context is that the impact is difficult to predict, if the product hasn’t been fully designed yet and if the production processes aren’t known. For the economic impact many empirical formulas exist, whereas for the ecological impact such formulas are still missing. Therefore, a life cycle impact assessment tool has been developed which supports the developer during all stages of development.