The English Provender Company
Elcomponent Metering System Saves £16K at Fine Food Factory
It’s all in the name…. The English Provender Company are manufacturers of very delightful chutneys, curds, condiments and salad dressings. The recipes are simple enough – old–style English fare made with the finest ingredients using traditional methods, so quality control is of paramount importance. The best ingredients do not come cheap, and with one notable exception must be used in exactly the right quantities. The notable exception is of course energy, and whilst the company will not compromise its recipes to even the smallest degree, it is passionate about delivering the finished product with an energy content which is as low as possible.
THE CLIENTS REQUIREMENT…
This isn’t easy – many of the manufacturing processes such as ‘open pan’ cooking represent an energy management challenge, but it’s one that site Process Manager Nick Green is ready for… “Ultimately we need to know the exact energy content of all our products, but right now we’re making significant savings by taking control of unnecessary usage” he says. The tool that has allowed this to take place is a fully integrated multiutility sub-metering system installed by Elcomponent. “It has provided invaluable information on the various processes, right from day one.” The system provides half-hour data on electricity, water and gas usage, and has enabled English Provender to get a grip on their utility usage in a way that is simply not possible without automatic sub-metering. Significant savings on gas & electricity have been realised by ensuring that plant and equipment runs only when needed, and better control of water usage has already reduced consumption by 5%. Overall savings of about £16,000.00 p.a. have been realised The Elcomponent system also provides wireless radio-based automatic temperature monitoring to 26 points including warehouse storage areas, freezers and blast chillers. Obviously the chilled areas must be managed efficiently to minimise energy usage and the Elcomponent MeterRing MM package offers temperature measurement as an integral function – something that is normally handled via a completely separate system.
Nick Green is clear about the advantages of the Elcomponent approach… ”Being able to monitor and graph temperature on the same desktop as energy and utility usage is a massive advantage” he says. “So much so, we’re scoping out the installation of the system in our other manufacturing sites.” Elcomponent sales engineer, Stef Kawalek, is obviously pleased with the outcome… “We’ve recently added radio-based temperature logging to our system capability” he notes, “and that made all the difference here. A combination of cable, radio and LAN means we can deliver a cost-effective working solution in the most challenging and complex environment.”
ELCOMPONENT:
Unit 5, Southmill Trading Centre, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts, CM23 3DY T. 01279 503 173 F. 01279 654 441 sales@elcomponent.co.uk www.elcomponent.co.uk
