In beverage production, the hidden champion in reducing energy use is …. compressed air. (Surprise! We didn’t make you wait until the of the article because we believe your time is important). Stick around until the end to hear how you can be rewarded for your energy saving efforts.
Revealing an Unsung Hero in Saving Energy
Modern Beverage Operators know that compressed air is often taken for granted and used carelessly. This happens frequently in beverage production facilities, because compressed air is always available in manufacturing, but the effort required to provide it is rarely ever questioned.
As a result, the cost of using compressed air in beverage production usually goes unnoticed in day-to-day operations and provides the modern Beverage Operator with a treasure trove of gifts to unlock.
At Quantis.ai, we believe modern Beverage Operators need to know their biggest opportunity to deliver incremental operational cost savings in the next few quarters is to proactively target compressed air.
Why?
Because compressed air is 20 times more expensive to generate than electricity. In this time of increased inflation and rising costs … can your company really afford to waste that much money and energy?
We believe that you can’t, and that’s why we invested the time to write this piece.
The Truth about your Beverage Operations
We want the modern Beverage Operator to know that there is a significant potential for compressed air savings in your operation right now and targeting this area can you help not only achieve your sustainability goals, but it can also help you reduce your operational costs as well.
Best of all?
The modern Beverage Operator can achieve this ... without any impact to downtime, line efficiency, or production output.
In terms of energy and cost, compressed air is a hidden champion.
Problems with Traditional Air Compressor Systems
“Every third compressor in Germany is only running … because of leaks.”
Compressors generate compressed air in the production hall, which is fed to the relevant machines via transport lines.
As production continues, its normal to have wear and tear on components, as well as anomalies such as leaks in piping. Over time, these leaks can continue to grow and creep into your operation, resulting in higher energy consumption – without you noticing.
As maintenance is performed on equipment at the prescribed intervals, it is also common for the compressed air supply to change as individual machines are replaced or modified. As a result, this makes it hard to measure or quantify which components are using compressed air, and which are not.
Opportunities for Cost Savings that Add Up Quickly
Traditionally, filters and nozzles have been replaced during annual maintenance inspections, and production lines and beverage equipment are typically checked manually for leaks. To perform these tasks, it is unavoidable to use personnel, which can also result in additional costs.
Taken to the extreme, we have observed in a variety of beverage manufacturing plants that it is becoming increasingly common for additional compressors to be installed to compensate for increased pressure losses, driving up capital and energy costs exorbitantly.
Raising Awareness of Potential Savings in the ‘Hidden Champion’
The customer's top priority in manufacturing is always to reduce costs and increase output. This can only be achieved through continuous process improvement. Advances in digitalization have already revolutionized industrial production.
But how do you solve a hidden problem with massive cost implications for the company?
Through our work on the factory floor with consumer beverage companies, we’ve measured and validated what most don’t know: that even a 1 bar drop in pressure can be significant.
But … how significant can it really be?
The real costs of the ‘Hidden Champion’
As we’ve worked with customers in over 25+ countries, we continue to be surprised at how many Heads of Production at multiple Beverage firms don’t realize the real cost of 1 pressure drop. In our research, we’ve learned that a 1 bar pressure drop can cause an increase in energy costs of +7%, and higher leakage rates of +13% on average.
“1 bar pressure drop causes … an additional increase of +7% energy costs, and +13% higher leakage rates.”
To combat these rising costs and help customers deliver on their sustainability goals, Quantis is committed to continuously providing its customers with new and innovative energy management solutions.
Smart Sensor IIoT Solutions
Quantis Smart Sensor IIoT Solutions can deliver significant cost savings through the targeted use of smart sensor technology in production systems. Seamless connectivity and communication form the basis for monitoring and evaluating compressed air consumption.
This foundation is enhanced by Quantis AI software-as-a-service platforms such as Pocket Factory. The Pocket Factory SaaS platform enables beverage operators to collect data on their entire operation by using bi-directional OPC UA or MQTT interfaces, which can be used to continuously query process data from machines, lines and compressors, as well as to control processes.
Identify instant deviations… to control your costs
Collecting data on Pocket Factory over a period of time also provides a historical view, which is important for analyzing fluctuations and deviations in compressed air.
The major benefit of doing so means that the Head of Production at a Beverage firm can now easily identify even the smallest discrepancies – without ever having to enter the production hall. The faster you are alerted to the discrepancy, the faster you can act.
Scale your Results – by Empowering Your Team
Modern Beverage Operators can deliver more results faster ... when they focus on scaling themselves.
The quickest and easiest way to scale yourself and your plant-level results is by enabling your team to sign up to receive real–time alerts and notifications on key changes to critical KPIs.
For example, you can empower your teams to be proactive on the shop floor. Point out that they are empowered to make decisions and take action when they see a critical change in a key KPI such as air pressure. If they notice that there are increases in air pressure outside of a set tolerance level, remind them that they are empowered to utilize this data and take action -- even when you are not in the room.
Empowering your team to take action by using data will help them to make better decisions in the flow of work.
The collected data can be further processed using AI functions, converted into KPIs in the cloud and visualized via user-friendly, out-of-the-box dashboards customized for a variety of job types in each Beverage Operation.
Data helps you identify the next set of actions
What we’ve seen over and over at a variety of beverage customers around the world is that once the data is collected, it becomes clear what the next set of actions need to be to further minimize compressed air consumption.
During changeover and break times, as well as during non-production times (weekends), the compressed air supply to the machines can be controlled from the air ring line. Disconnection from the compressed air supply is fully automatic and does not involve any additional personnel costs.
Another important point is leak detection. Previously, a manual search in the production hall was necessary. By using sensor technology and evaluating historical data, it is possible to precisely locate a leak using machine learning functions. The application informs the user about the size of the leak and the resulting costs.
The quality of the compressed air also plays a decisive role.
Deviations from standard values are immediately communicated to the user, allowing for rapid intervention. Once compressed air monitoring is established in production, the size and number of compressors can be checked and adjusted if necessary. Usually at least 1 compressor can be set to standby mode.
Added value of compressed air monitoring
To realize the full potential of this "hidden champion" in energy management, compressed air must be used in a targeted and efficient manner in production. The IIoT solutions from Quantis.ai, with their wide range of applications, not only provides transparency on energy consumption, but can also show optimization approaches on how to use this valuable resource more efficiently.
Through targeted monitoring and control of compressed air systems, your company can achieve significant cost savings while making an important contribution to sustainability.
What do you think?
Were you able to guess that the ‘hidden champion’ that can enable your operation to reduce energy and save money was... compressed air? If so, we want to get to know you better, as our research indicates that only 1 in 10 beverage plant operators are aware of this hidden champion. If you are among the very few who guessed this one correctly, then we want to hear from you.
What other hidden champions have you found in your Beverage Plant? Tell us in the comments. What sustainability heroes do you admire in your beverage plant? Tell us in the comments or tag them with the hashtag "#sustainabilityhero.
Nominate the Next Beverage Industry Sustainability Hero-of-The-Year Award
We invite you to nominate a Sustainability hero in your organization ... or, in any organization who is working to reduce energy usage or energy costs in the Beverage Industry.
How do I nominate someone?
Nominating a hero is easy.
Simply use our form to write a sentence about what actions they’ve taken to identify new and creative ways to reduce energy usage, and/or reduce energy costs, or both in your beverage operations.
Include their email and, regardless of whether or not they win, we will congratulate them on the great work they are doing to help our industry and our planet.
Once you complete the short form, they will be automatically entered to win our 2024 Quantis.ai Sustainability Hero of the Year Award!
How does it work?
All Nominations must be submitted via our form by November 1st
Based on the Nominations submitted, Quantis will notify the winners.
The winner will be able to select a charitable organization focused on Sustainability that he or she wants to support
Once the charity has been identified, Quantis will make a $500 donation in their name, and in the name of their company. Quantis will then proceed to match this donation, for a total of $1000.
Winners will be announced during the month of December 2024
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