Gerrit Posselt

Combining Machine Tool Builder and Operator Perspective towards Energy and Resource Efficiency in Manufacturing

Various technical and organizational measures to improve energy and resource efficiency have been developed but studies still identify an efficiency gap when it comes to implementation. Thereby, two main perspectives need to be considered: the machine tool builder has a major role as the energy demand in operation is mainly determined in the design phase. On the other hand, the machine tool user focuses on the individual reduction of energy and resource demand and connected costs as well as environmental impact. Against this background, this paper presents a framework which brings together both machine tool builder and operator perspective which is underlined by two case studies.

Approach for Achieving Transparency in the Use of Compressed Air in Manufacturing as a Basis for Systematic Energy Saving

The increase in energy efficiency in manufacturing and in particular in the area of compressed air is becoming a top issue in the context of factory planning and operation. Facing this development, the European Commission entrusted the Seventh Framework Program, Horizon 2020, to strengthen the research efforts to hit the proclaimed environmental, energetic and economic objectives of the European Union. In this paper, the authors present selected results on how to re-engineer brownfield factories to become clean and competitive factories of the future. Furthermore, the focus is put on energy-efficient generation, preparation, distribution and utilization of compressed air. It provides a systematic and practical approach to re-engineer existing compressed air systems to become eco-efficient. In European industries, around 10% of the final energy utilized is converted into compressed air as a factory internal energy source and hence plays a vital role for various applications such as handling and assembly of parts. When generating compressed air, it is important to use efficient compressor stations with optimized compressed air preparation and appropriately designed compressed air systems for distributing and utilizing the compressed air. However, due to a lack of transparency and knowledge in terms of actual demands and technical dependencies, compressed air systems are often operated inefficiently. The holistic approach described in this article suggests specific improvement strategies and innovative technology solutions based on profound evaluations in industrial cases.

Cyber-physical Approach for Integrated Energy and Maintenance Management

Because of nowadays complex and highly automated industrial production lines, every stoppage involves the danger of a massive economic harm. That’s why companies use already various production, quality and maintenance methods to reduce—or at least to handle—unforeseen stoppages. This paper presents a novel approach to improve the reliability of production fields by supporting predictive maintenance under the combination of systems from energy and maintenance management. Wireless sensor networks and mobile devices are integrated into a cyber-physical system to gain real-time transparency of energy demands within production environments. Being aware of challenges introducing cyber-physical systems into the brownfield, the proposed solution considers needs of data standardisations, IT security, staff participation, big data handling, long-term technical risk and cost-benefit estimations. The developed methods are considered by user-oriented design principles to deliver role-specific information. Therefore, the derivation of these informational requirements is based on production unique job activities. Allocating time and component-based energy demands whilst taking machine and environmental conditions into account enables a basis of comparison and a continuous improvement process of energy efficiency and maintenance. These demands are fulfilled by the methods of a continuous energy value stream mapping, an energy efficiency tracker and an integrating energy and maintenance monitoring. This proposed approach is based on the ESIMA project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The project aims for “Optimised resource efficiency in production through energy autarkic sensors and interaction with mobile users”.

Energy Flows in Factories

This chapter introduces the theoretical foundation for the concept to be derived in this book. Initially the factory morphology is explained and all elements of a generic factory system are introduced. Central terms and definitions of energy types and the energy conversion and utilisation are given. The economic aspects of supplied energy flows are put into focus.

Energy Management in Factories

The management of energy flows within a factory relies on measurement quantities in order to formulate targets, plan and control activities for energy utilisation and to monitor results for proper compensation actions. The necessary informational basis for a management is energy flow transparency. In this chapter, the terms energy management, energy data acquisition and energy flow monitoring will be introduced. Available state of the art tools supporting the energy management activities will be analysed and evaluated for their suitability for an integrated energy management in factories.

Application of Concept

The chapter presents the application of the developed concept framework with its planning tool and operative tools to three different case environments, ranging from research focus to industry focus. The objective is to emphasize the applicability and actual generated informational value of the developed methods and tools. Considering the fact that each of the case environments is different in its technical and organisational preconditions, the conceptual approach will contemplate each individual background, as far as confidentiality matters allow, with real company case data.

Concept for Energy Transparent Factories

Before the background of the state of research, this chapter introduces a reference framework for an energy transparent factory. The framework differentiates between specific levels of energy transparency and objectives of energy-related information provision. The identified lack of a strategic selection of suitable metering points within factories, leads to the need for a new approach to methodologically support the formulation of a metering strategy for the specific levels of transparency.

Approaches for Energy Data Acquisitioning and Monitoring

Against the background of the barriers and demands identified in the review of state of the art energy management tools, suitable approaches from the state of research for the planning and operation of energy data acquisition and monitoring is reviewed. A review of current research approaches is performed to discuss and identify the need for further research.

Energieflusstransparenz fördert transdisziplinäre Planung

Kurzfassung Die Fabrik der Zukunft zielt auf eine energie- und ressourceneffiziente Produktion sowie die konsistente Nutzung erneuerbarer Energieträger. Dies erfordert zum einen eine bedarfsorientierte technische Gebäudeausstattung und die Integration neuer Technologien. Zum anderen bedarf es einer transdisziplinären Planung. Ein entwickeltes Vorgehen ermöglicht es, auf Basis gesteigerter Energieflusstransparenz und der TCO-Bewertung technologische Maßnahmen im Fabrikplanungsprozess integriert zu bewerten.