Turning Energy Data into Better Factory Decisions

For food and drink manufacturers, reducing utility consumption is not simply about cutting energy bills. Better visibility of electricity, gas and water can reveal waste, highlight process inefficiencies and provide valuable information about how a factory is actually operating.

The challenge is getting the right data, from the right places, in a format that people and other systems can use.

Govern engineer of the powerhouse pipe system

See Where Your Energy is Really Going

A factory’s main electricity, gas or water meters only tell part of the story. To identify opportunities for improvement, manufacturers need to understand consumption at a more granular level – by production line, process, department, building or individual piece of equipment.

Elcomponent designs and installs metering and monitoring systems that provide this visibility across:

• Electricity – from incoming supplies to individual production lines and equipment
• Gas – monitoring consumption across processes and plant
• Water – identifying usage, abnormal consumption and potential leakage
• Heat and temperature – monitoring thermal energy and operating conditions
• Environmental measurements – including temperature, humidity and other sensors

Existing meters can often be incorporated, with additional metering installed only where required.

Wireless, Wired – or Both

Food manufacturing sites can be challenging environments for data collection. Production areas, plant rooms, chilled stores and large buildings do not always lend themselves to conventional cabling.

Elcomponent therefore uses a combination of LoRaWAN wireless technology and wired communications including Modbus, M-Bus and Ethernet, selecting the most appropriate technology for each application.

The result is a practical system designed around the factory – rather than forcing the factory to fit the monitoring system.

From Data to Action

Collecting data is only useful if it helps somebody make a better decision.

Real-time and historical monitoring can help manufacturers:

• Identify unnecessary out-of-hours consumption
• Compare energy or water use between production lines
• Detect leaks and abnormal consumption
• Establish meaningful energy and water performance indicators
• Verify whether efficiency projects have actually delivered savings
• Improve carbon and sustainability reporting
• Identify changes in consumption that may indicate operational or equipment issues

Combining utility consumption with production information makes the data even more valuable. Energy per tonne, water per batch or gas per unit produced can provide far greater insight than utility consumption viewed in isolation.

Your Energy Data Doesn’t Have to Stay in an Energy System

Modern factories already generate large amounts of information through production, SCADA, ERP, maintenance and business intelligence systems. No one tool does everything, so it’s best to use the right system for the task but ensure data can be accessed, shared and utilized.

Elcomponent can make metering and energy data available to these wider factory systems, allowing utility information to become part of the organisation’s overall operational data strategy.

Data can be shared through secure APIs and automated exports, enabling integration with third-party energy management platforms, ESG systems, billing applications, Microsoft Power BI or other factory and corporate systems.

Equally, data from existing metering systems and other sources can be brought together into a central monitoring environment.

The Key Objective is:

Collect reliable data once, then make it available wherever the business can gain value from it.

Metering Expertise from Survey to Ongoing Support

Technology alone does not guarantee good data. Correct meter specification, installation, commissioning and ongoing system health are equally important.

Elcomponent provides an end-to-end service covering site surveys, system design, metering, installation, communications, commissioning, software, integration and ongoing support.

For food and drink manufacturers looking to reduce utility costs and improve operational efficiency, the starting point is straightforward:

Measure it accurately • Understand it clearly • Use the data everywhere it adds value

Elcomponent Ltd
Metering • Monitoring • Integration

sales@elcomponent.co.uk
01279 503173 | www.elcomponent.co.uk