Smart energy management
Smart energy management
At a glance
Focus: Smart energy management.
Challenge: Energy is often one of the largest variable costs that companies can actively reduce.
Approach: At the engine manufacturing plant of our facility, resource utilization is mapped thoroughly and its monitoring is done in real time.
Impact: Reduction in energy consumption by 10%.
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd
Mahindra Group's parent company, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., is a dominant player in the Tractor and Automobile industry. It is both an operating company (Automotive and Farm Equipment businesses) and a holding company of all its investments in subsidiary and associate companies. M&M Ltd. is among the market leaders in the Indian SUV/ MUV segment and the world’s largest tractor company by volumes. Mahindra is truly a global company with its global neural network of R&D and manufacturing facilities as well as on ground channel network. Committed to ethical values, sustainable business practices, towards driving positive change, M&M creates value by judiciously and intelligently leveraging the multiple types of capital – not just Financial Capital, but also Manufactured Capital, Intellectual Capital, Human Capital, Social & Relationship Capital and Natural Capital.
Business challenge
Energy is often one of the largest variable costs that companies can actively reduce. For the manufacturers to remain competitive in the fourth industrial revolution, reducing production costs is the key. One way to achieve this is by creating a solid strategy when it comes to energy management in industry 4.0.
In a country where energy costs are among the highest it becomes even more important to implement what we might call “lean energy system”.
The original system was such that the energy consumption readings of a factory were available the next day and hence analysis was also possible only the next day leading to no immediate corrective actions that could be taken.
The main challenge existed in the development of the central control technology and its functions.
Second major challenge was quick and smooth involvement of new systems in the existing network.
Industry 4.0 solution
At the engine manufacturing plant of our facility, resource utilization is mapped thoroughly and its monitoring is done on real time basis. More than 50 energy meters are connected and data of power consumption is monitored through SCADA system. GSM module transmits the data to cloud i.e. Manufacturing Execution System (MES), known as DRONA at our facility. It interprets the data and publishes it in the form of interactive reports. Behavioral pattern and department level consumption gets verified and actions are triggered to concerned people . With the assistance of central control technology, MES (DRONA) the energy required in the entire facility, from aggregated areas to the individual machines are calculated on real time basis. Additionally , trends can be analyzed, data can be monitored & process parameters can be regulated. To reduce the power consumption during peak load hours, some measures have been taken which will be implemented in phase 2 of the application.
Use of Industry 4.0 is useful to monitor real time data for ease in identifying events, abnormalities and analysis. Big data can be analyzed easily. Energy wastage can be prevented to a great extent. Use of Latest technological electrical appliances can improve energy productivity drastically like use of energy efficient motors, LED’s etc.
Key benefits
| Area | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Energy & Sustainability | Reduction in energy consumption by 10% |
| Energy & Sustainability | The permanent logging of energy consumption accords the consumer with a simple and efficient control over energy use |
| Visibility & Analytics | The system compares theoretical vs actual consumption so real time gap analysis is possible that helps in taking prompt action and pin pointing the root cause |