Energy efficiency in the world of Industry 4.0
Author : Martin Walder is VP of Industry at Schneider Electric
30 October 2017
Connectivity spoke to Martin Walder, VP of Industry, Schneider Electric about the impact Industry 4.0 is having on the Energy sector and how smart, connected solutions can help companies become more efficient and address the energy dilemma the UK is currently facing.
A recent Schneider Electric sustainability report states that industrial energy use will increase by at least 50 percent over the next 35 years and at the same time we need to cut CO2 emissions. This places great urgency to change the energy ecosystem so that it can respond to the rise in demand and it requires a global rethink on how companies can do more while using less resources.
Industry 4.0 solutions therefore provide an opportunity for companies to rethink how they are operating and how they can drive innovation to address the challenges of tomorrow.
What are the challenges within the energy sector?
Martin feels there are three major challenges in the UK when it comes to deploying smart technology:
1. Lack of skilled engineers
This is both in the manufacturing automation supply chain and within the manufacturer themselves. If we go back 25 years, in a medium/large Food & Beverage plant you may have had several sizeable teams of engineers, each working in a specialist areas. Now, we frequently see in many plants less than a handful of multi-skilled engineers that are expected to design and develop new lines.
In most plants now in the UK, we have so few people in-house who have the expertise and vision to design in these smart technologies, a huge limiting factor which is quite different in Germany or Japan.
However, a lot of activities from the last 5+ years have started to address this issue. There is a real focus on STEM and the need to drive apprenticeships, which Martin feels will only increase capabilities. Looking ahead, the UK is going to need to be more flexible with immigration, to make sure we bring in and retain people with the right skills. Whilst the UK universities are good, China and India are each training circa 10x more engineers each year and of course a good proportion of the UK students are not UK residents.
2. Lack of longer term vision
In all but the very specialist and very niche - there is only a long term future in manufacturing if there is capital investment in automated plant and in digital systems.
Without this companies will eventually become uncompetitive and then go out of business.
To achieve this effectively there has to be a long term vision and plan and this must include some projects that won’t give payback within the financial year – something which has held the UK back for decades. We only have to see the investment made in this area in Japan and Germany and the increased productivity that comes with it. That said we do have some great examples in the UK – just look at the automation that Jaguar Land Rover have invested in – and the quality products they produce and massive global exports they make. Ironically the biggest investor in robotics and automation today is China – and their labour is still much lower than Western Europe.
3. Political education
Education is an ongoing process and something we all have to take part in, including our politicians. Some are beginning to see the benefits of automation but many still think when it comes to a robot vs a manual labourer, we should either be taxing the robot or not installing it at all. This is not an ideal view and completely missing the point because without automation companies are at risk of being lost forever. Jaguar Land Rover is a great example from above, proving if you invest in the technology you could potentially be one of the best performers in your market. This naturally increases sales meaning you will need lots more employees to undertake new tasks, like supply chain, design, marketing etc. It’s really key we keep working on that political angle to make sure that politicians realise investing in automated facilities can only be good for the UK’s long term prosperity.
How is the energy dilemma impacting big companies?
In energy intensive businesses, like steel production, it’s noticeable how added costs have made the UK less competitive. The cost of energy is a much larger proportion of the cost of production, so these types of businesses are under a lot of pressure and this is likely to increase as electricity gets ever more expensive
However, this does mean a lot of them are taking a serious look at where energy is being used. In the past, it was simply about pumping in as much power as possible and focusing only on output and productivity. Now they are having to take a serious look at energy efficiency and as a result there is more metering down to a very granular level, essentially monitoring where exactly the power is being used and when and allowing them to make informed decisions about what can be saved.
It’s also noticeable that some of the big power users are getting better tariffs when they offer to shed loads if the network is under stress. For example, if a plant has some particularly hungry motors, by dropping a 5MW motor down to 80 percent speed the load could be reduced by up to 50 percent reducing the demand on the network and keeping tariffs lower. There is no doubt we are seeing more of this and Martin believes this will gain even more importance as the last of our coal fire stations go offline. One thing is for sure, renewables are not as consistent and as peak demand is currently above peak supply, shedding loads will become a priority.
What about the SMEs?
There is certainly more of a bias on the bigger companies because they generally spend more. When looking at Government penalties, they tend to focus on the bigger users, therefore SMEs are not under the same pressure, yet. But it’s only a matter of time because we all have to start being more efficient.
In comes Industry 4.0
In Western Europe we are not justifying many completely new greenfield plants each year. The majority of our existing factories will most likely still be producing in 10 years’ time, so we have to work on improving them, starting with energy optimisation. Making the investment to digitalise is key to turning an organisation from a reactive to a proactive state but the question most companies ask is, if you’ve got an old factory, how much should you invest?
When it comes down to implementing an Industry 4.0 solution, no one is going to take a complete ‘rip & replace’ approach. If they do, it will be few and far between. Sure as companies look at obsolete equipment still critical to their manufacture there will be the opportunity to selectively upgrade or swap out systems. These opportunities should be seized to accelerate the move to a smarter plant – using many of the tools that manufacturers are making available today.
For example, an IoT-enabled variable speed drive provides immediate Ethernet connectivity so companies can start to link into the wider process, there is an app to allow you to monitor and configure, in-built web pages to share full status and dynamic QR codes for fault conditions that connect to the web and provide gudies and instructions for rectification. Martin advises that even if you’re not going to connect it straight away, make sure you have the capability as the incremental costs are now insignificant. You can start using parts of Industry 4.0, as above, for increased productivity and as things progress to the next stage, you can further integrate. Another example would be upgrading an old process controller with the latest M580 – immediately you get Ethernet running through the backplane with direct access to modules, you have built-in web servers, time stamping through-out and a fully cyber security hardened product to that latest Achillies standards.
Another innovative product from Schneider to retrofit old breakers is the PowerTag – that mounts on the input to a breaker and communicates wirelessly to you control and information systems giving full power statistics, trips, diagnostics etc. This allows you to quickly and easily make your system smart and integrate power and control systems.
Big Data
Digitalisation is not simply about the number of connected devices, but rather the opportunity to turn captured data into actionable insights. It’s all about how your plant plays with the wider, global infrastructure. Data can be used in the factory to see what is being produced and at what time, where power is being used and when there is high demand on the network so you can decrease power consumption.
Data analysis is used to link the outside world with the inside of the plant, on a power and productivity level. We are only at the very early stages of analytics and the importance of this will be emphasised over the next few years, particularly with the advent of a new, skilled workforce.
Cyber security
For the last ten years, quite a lot of companies have resisted placing products and processes online. By not connecting to the Internet, companies felt safer. Now, there is the realisation that if this connected approach isn’t embraced, companies will get left behind.
Therefore, cyber security is not an option anymore and becoming a top priority. Most companies, particularly the smaller ones, don’t have the skills to effectively implement a secure solution, which is where an automation partner comes in. A company cannot be a leading player within Industry 4.0 without cyber security capabilities, says Martin. Whilst every player has to produce products that communicate with each other they also have to design them layer-by-layer for cyber security.
Every minute, every second there is a new attack somewhere and the most important thing is being dynamic in your approach.
The future of energy
IoT has been around for years and we are only now just getting to the bottom of the ramp-up curve. All the new projects revolve around reducing work in progress, improved planning and scheduling, reducing waste and leaner production. People are starting to realise the benefits.
Martin thinks in five years we’ll see far more examples of smart plants and factories but the overall landscape won’t have dramatically changed, smart factories will still be the minority. In fifteen years however, it should be different. Those that haven’t gone with the flow will probably be out of business whilst there will be others thriving in the global economy.
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