Energy Efficiency

Energy management systems provide a framework for the transparent display of energy consumptions, aiming for an increase of energy efficiency. At the same time, a certified energy management system is condition for the reimbursement of electricity taxes and the exemption of the EEG (Renewables Energy ACT) apportionment. Even though energy management systems lead evidently to a reduction of energy consumptions, only little companies have implemented such a system. The study presented in this paper gives an insight into the status of the cost factor energy and respective management systems in German SMEs (manufacturing industry). Moreover, the main pillars of energy management systems and their benefits are outlined.

The potentials of a resource efficient production become the focal point of interest of production companies. Necessary for a permanent change are qualified and motivated employees. This article describes the requirements for the change such as a fundamental shift in values and a position specific qualification. Furthermore, relevant steps for establishing an efficient working organisation are presented.

When investing into new technological equipment, decision-makers have to take into account a lot more than just the purchasing price. Forward-looking enterprises consider all the costs that are generated over the course of the life span of machines. Two factors play an increasingly important role in this context: Firstly, energy efficiency, as it can help reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO). Liquidity on the other hand is essential for a firm’s further growth and competitiveness. With the right financing methods, these two preconditions for budget-friendly investments can be ensured.

Energy management systems (EMS) experience an increase in popularity since their introduction. Especially as their introduction allows for tax capping. However, an integrated approach on energy-orintation requires more than the realisation of an EMS. The article illustrates spheres of activity that can be taken to enhance the approach of energy management systems towards a holistic energy-orientation.

Rising energy costs, the changing political context as well as growing customer requirements are increasing the pressure on manufacturing companies to run sustainable factories. A method to realize an energy efficient factory is the Energy Value Stream Mapping. This paper shows an approach which adds a simulative and participative dimension to the method by using the IFU planning table.

Globalization and the growing number of supply chain participants lead to increasing cargo transport service and, thus, to higher energy demand. Although energy prices increase at the same time, the energy balance of production networks remains unconsidered during in the network design phase. Hence, the research project E²Log analyzes how logistics networks and production environment can be coordinated in order to improve energy efficiency. In the first project phase, based on the supply chain for the production of the Volkswagen Amarok, the use case partners have derived simulation scenarios and enhanced a simulation tool to evaluate measures for the efficiency increase without ignoring classic logistic objectives soon.

Over the last two decades, themes such as resource scarcity, environmental pollution and rising commodity prices have gained increasing importance in the design of automotive industry production processes. As a result, the pressure on car manufacturers to plan their production facilities according to energy efficiency criteria is constantly rising. At present, machine tool suppliers still provide insufficient data to support purchasing decisions based on energy efficiency aspects. A case study conducted with Daimler AG explores a car manufacturer’s specific information requirements with respect to energy efficiency. Furthermore, an approach for the integration of energy data in the product data sheets of machine tool suppliers is presented.

Energy efficiency is becoming increasingly important in industry, which has not only ecological but also economic reasons. Thereby, the competitiveness of the industry is increasingly influenced by the incurred energy costs. In order to achieve ambitious targets of energy saving in a company, existing potentials must be consistently exploited. Furthermore it is not enough to focus solely on technical measures. Instead, more factors must be considered which make it possible to achieve these ambitious goals. To identify areas where energy demand is affected in the economy in this article various potentials are derived in order to achieve the economic potential by taking other factors into account.

Current political developments regarding the withdrawal from nuclear energy will probably result in an additional increase in energy costs over the next few years. This increases the relevance of reducing energy consumption in production for industrial enterprises. Thus, in addition to quality, cost, delivery reliability and flexibility, energy efficiency is integrated as an additional performance criterion in the decisions of production managers. An important instrument to increase energy efficiency in production processes is the implementation of energy management. This paper presents the advantages of an integrated energy management and outlines the main tasks and methods. IT solutions are presented that assist companies in configuring and controlling production processes to become more energy efficient.

During the last decades, automotive manufacturers have outsourced many processes. Hence, complex networks consisting of automotive manufacturers, suppliers and logistics service providers have grown in the automotive industry. The resulting transports of components in these networks often require special load carriers. Consequently, companies nowadays face the challenge to handle a growing number of load carriers. For improving the load carrier management a higher transparency is required regarding the load carriers in the whole network. Transparency can be assured by the application of radio frequency identification technology. However, especially logistics service providers have to invest in this technology, which can be implemented in different ways. In this paper, some application possibilities are described and analyzed regarding economic and energy efficiency.