Optimizing Exceptional Machines
Energy Savings Matter
Reduce Energy Consumption with the Right Automation Technology
Information from Rockwell Automation for OEMs
In this Issue of
Energy Savings Matter
We’ve all heard the numbers before:
Manufacturing consumes more than
one-third of the global energy used
annually. According to the Energy
Information Administration’s 2011
International Energy Outlook, industrial
energy consumption will grow by
approximately 50 percent over the next two
decades, from 191 quadrillion Btu in 2008 to
288 quadrillion Btu in 2035. As energy use
continues to climb, energy costs are on the
same upward trajectory. As indicated in the
2011 MPI Manufacturing Study, sixty-three
percent of manufacturing plants report
utility and energy costs increased in the
past year.
If we understand the challenge, why
haven’t manufacturers and producers done
more to reduce energy consumption?
The fact is, with no uniform method
to measure, report and control energy
consumption, it’s one of the most difficult
costs to manage. At the same time,
implementing an energy-management
system often requires significant
application-code development, and might
unnecessarily duplicate the existing control
structure. As a result, manufacturers often
see energy-improvement projects as too
costly and time consuming to implement.
To respond to this challenge, OEMs can
deliver expertise and equipment to help
producers reduce their annual cost of
energy to operate facilities. Manufacturers
often purchase equipment on a lowest-cost
basis without regard to cost of operation.
By building equipment using the right
automation technology with proactive
energy-management strategies in mind,
OEMs can deliver direct, long-term savings
for end users.
What’s Next in Energy Management?
Most manufacturers are starting to track energy consumption in some
capacity, whether at a site level or down to specific production lines.
By monitoring consumption, these companies can make operational
changes to reduce energy consumption and costs. Access to historical
data also permits management personnel to address power-quality
issues whether intermittent or persistent, such as voltage sags or
harmonics, thereby saving thousands of dollars in damaged equipment
or poor-quality product, and avoiding penalties associated with powerfactor problems on the energy grid.
This type of data monitoring and analysis is critical to make
improvements. After all, you cannot improve what you do not measure,
but OEMs also can help their customers look ahead to what’s next.
Optimizing Exceptional Machines
Information from Rockwell Automation for OEMs
Energy Management is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
Visible and actionable water, air, gas, electricity and
steam (WAGES) data allows managers and operators
to constantly see and resolve issues. It’s especially
important to secure ongoing gains because improved
management of energy consumption won’t necessarily
deliver substantial improvements immediately. Energy
management is a marathon, rather than a sprint, with
savings measured in hour-to-hour and day-to-day
increments: When and why did a machine exceed typical
energy draw? Why did an equipment changeover cause
startup surges? Why did a component change extend the
production cycle into a peak-draw period?
Visibility is the only practical way to keep track of
progress. While behaviors relying on human observation
and intervention – involving managers and team
members that perform the activities of plan, do, check,
and adjust – the key to accelerated energy-efficiency
improvements lies within the streams of data running to,
through and from equipment.
Transfer Energy Intelligence into Action
To make this happen, industrial technologies like AC
drives, and servo and linear-motion devices are necessary
to transfer energy intelligence into energy-usage action.
AC drives, as an alternative to fixed-speed controllers
and throttling devices, improve operating performance,
control capability and energy savings through:
• Avoiding peak-demand charges: Ramp motors up to
speed gradually during times of peak demand.
• Optimizing power in relation to load: Use the precise
(i.e., not excess) amount of energy required by the
equipment to fulfill demand.
• Generating energy: Many AC drives are capable of
regenerating power, which can then be routed back to
the system or sold to utilities.
• Optimizing performance: Intelligent motor controls
integrate advanced networking and diagnostic
capabilities to optimize performance, increase
productivity and reduce energy use.
Automated data collection and management, combined
with the use of AC drives, allow producers to make changes
in how processes and equipment operate – slowly ramping
up machines – with all these small changes adding up to
potentially millions of dollars in energy-consumption savings.
Regardless of where a manufacturer might be on its
journey toward a more energy-efficient production
infrastructure, OEMs can help them manage their use of
WAGES resources.
Case in Point: Global Small-Engine Maker
Captures Wasted Energy
Briggs & Stratton, a global maker of small engines for
lawn mowers, snow blowers and other outdoor power
equipment, operates a reliability lab near Milwaukee, Wis.
The lab flushes out failures, and proves the durability and
safety of engine designs before they’re sold to a customer.
The lab’s endless endurance tests are costly – nearly
$1 million in fuel cost alone. Briggs & Stratton engineers
realized they could lower their operating cost if they could
capture power that’s wasted in heat from the existing
dynamometers. Their goal was to harness that energy and
convert it into electricity for the plant’s consumption.
The problem: this type of power regeneration system
didn’t exist. Engineers worried the cost of creating it might
be too high to justify the investment.
Briggs & Stratton worked with Rockwell Automation to
design a solution that would keep the captured electricity
within the plant while maintaining a smooth and safe
connection with the external power grid.
In February 2011, the pilot program went online with
12 test stands. Each test stand is run by an AC motor
using an Allen-Bradley® PowerFlex® 700 AC drive. The
regeneration system captures the power output of the
gasoline engines and creates electricity with that power.
Rockwell Software® FactoryTalk EnergyMetrix® software
logs and analyzes energy-use data, including electrical,
gas and steam usage from Allen-Bradley PowerMonitors™
installed around the Milwaukee campus. Energy managers
can access that information with the software, and create
reports about energy-use trends to share with the various
departments in the plant. This information helps identify
top-priority power issues.
The reliability lab is on track to generate as much as
556,000 kilowatt-hours annually – equal to the amount
needed to power 48 homes every year. That captured
electricity is fed back to the plant’s internal grid, which the
company hopes, will save an estimated $50,000 a year.
“It made perfect sense to invest in EnergyMetrix software so we could benchmark our power use and track our savings,”
said Richard Feustel, corporate energy services manager, Briggs & Stratton. “Before, the only information we had
about our energy use came in our electrical bills.”
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Optimizing Exceptional Machines
Information from Rockwell Automation for OEMs
Product, Technology and
Service Highlights
Industrial Energy-Management
Market Research Report
For more information on energy-management best
practices, please visit http://www.ab.com/onecontact/
services/energy/ and download a copy of the
Industrial Energy Management Market Research report
from Rockwell Automation. This report examines the
state of industrial energy usage, assesses the readiness
of industrial companies to take action to reduce
consumption of WAGES, and presents the
Rockwell Automation Industrial GreenPrint,™ a
four-stage methodology for progressively achieving
improvements through existing and key new investments.
Power Monitors
Two new Allen-Bradley power monitors from Rockwell
Automation provide manufacturers with scalable,
cost-effective insight into how, when and where energy
is being used throughout the production process. The
PowerMonitor W250 and PowerMonitor 500 power
meters offer users an opportunity to cost-effectively drive
energy monitoring further into their production processes
compared to previous monitoring technology.
For more information, visit:
http://ab.rockwellautomation.com/Energy-Monitoring/
Integrated Energy
Equipment with Integrated Energy from
Rockwell Automation helps manufacturers analyze
and control their manufacturing process and assets
to optimize production through a single platform that
blends energy, safety, process, motion and discrete
control disciplines. Integrated Energy leverages
existing Integrated Architecture investments to
visualize and actively manage energy consumption
without having to invest in or configure a standalone
energy-management solution.
Integrated Energy leverages CIP Energy, an extension to
the Common Industrial Protocol, to help manufacturers
manage their energy resource demand. CIP Energy
allows device vendors to embed energy functionality
into devices and enables communication over the CIP
protocol. This gives manufacturers a uniform method to
measure, report and control energy consumption.
For example, energy data trapped inside automation
products can be made available to information and
automation systems in a transparent and native manner,
leveraging the existing technology already available
on the network. Then, end users can share energy data
throughout their operations network, from assets to
production lines, to enterprise systems and ultimately
with the electrical grid.
For more information about Rockwell Automation energy
management solutions, visit:
www.rockwellautomation.com/go/wmenergy
3
Optimizing Exceptional Machines
Information from Rockwell Automation for OEMs
Product, Technology and
Service Highlights
Allen-Bradley SMC-50 Smart Motor Controller
FactoryTalk® Energy Intelligence™
In November, Rockwell Automation announced the
addition of new energy-intelligence capabilities in
software applications. The new tools – the FactoryTalk
VantagePoint Energy bundle, FactoryTalk EnergyMetrix™
software, and Allen-Bradley IntelliCENTER® software
with energy – help operations managers view resource
consumption in relation to specific units, lines and
machines, so they can make more informed energy
decisions. OEMs can consider offering energy intelligence
on their equipment as a value-add for end users.
In January 2013, Rockwell Automation plans to release
the Allen-Bradley SMC™-50 Smart Motor Controller,
the company’s latest generation of solid-state motor
controllers. The new SMC-50 controller addresses the
motor control needs of OEMs and end users seeking a
more economical alternative to drives and more advanced
control than across-the-line starters.
For more information, go to:
www.rockwellautomation.com/go/wmsmc50
To learn more about FactoryTalk VantagePoint Energy
bundle and FactoryTalk EnergyMetrix software, visit:
http://discover.rockwellautomation.com/IS_EN_
Intelligence_Manufacturing_Energy_Management.aspx
To learn more about IntelliCENTER software for motor
control centers, visit:
www.rockwellautomation.com/go/wmmcc
Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 525 AC Drive
The first of the next generation of compact full-featured
drives, the PowerFlex 525 AC drive, features an
economizer mode that helps optimize motor energy
consumption by monitoring an application’s current
demand and automatically refining operating parameters
accordingly. For example, if the drive detects that less
current is required to move a load, it can reduce flux
current to the motor. This decreases the energy required
and helps save operating costs. The drive features a
modular design in power ranges up to 22 kilowatt / 30
horsepower at global voltages of 100-600 volt input.
For more information, go to:
www.rockwellautomation.com/go/wmpf525
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Optimizing Exceptional Machines
Information from Rockwell Automation for OEMs
Product, Technology and
Service Highlights
Allen-Bradley Kinetix 6000M Integrated
Drive-Motor
Free Resource: Best Practices to Improve
Energy Efficiency in Packaging Conveyor Lines
The Allen-Bradley Kinetix® 6000M integrated drive-motor
combines the high-performance Allen-Bradley MP-Series™
food-grade servo motor and Kinetix 6000 multiaxis
servo-drive technologies into a single, compact,
on-machine package. OEMs can reduce control-system
enclosure size, cut wiring time, and simplify cabling
with the seamlessly integrated system.
When it comes to energy management specifically for
a packaging conveyor line, there are two areas to
capitalize on energy savings. The first and most direct
energy-savings opportunity is through energy-efficient
motor and drive selection. Beyond component selection,
the second opportunity is to utilize an energy-monitoring
and optimization controls plan. This white paper from
Nercon Eng. & Mfg. Inc., a Rockwell Automation OEM
Partner, provides practical and cost-saving opportunities
to improve efficiency on conveyor lines and deliver
substantial return on investment.
For more information, visit:
www.rockwellautomation.com/go/wmk6000m
To download, visit:
http://info.nercon.com/bid/136757/New-White-PaperBest-Practices-to-Improve-Energy-Efficiency-in-PackagingConveyor-Lines
Energy Management Accelerator Toolkit
The Energy Management Accelerator Toolkit from
Rockwell Automation is a framework to help manufacturers
develop an energy-management monitoring and analysis
application for their facilities. The toolkit covers the
complete process including energy assessment strategy,
hardware selection and wiring, energy data collector
configuration, FactoryTalk EnergyMetrix configuration and
operation, and local HMI integration.
For more information, visit:
www.rockwellautomation.com/go/wmia
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Optimizing Exceptional Machines
Information from Rockwell Automation for OEMs
Rockwell Automation Machine and
Equipment Builders Partner Program
As an OEM, you are challenged to differentiate yourself
amidst global competition and rapidly evolving
technology. To effectively compete, you need to define
value beyond the cost of your equipment and maximize
company performance. Rockwell Automation can help
improve your performance with solutions and services
to lower the Total Cost to Design, Develop and DeliverSM
equipment and meet your customers’ requirements.
As part of the OEM Program, you can expect increased
co-marketing opportunities, better market planning with
our sales force, and improved customer engagement with
co-managed objectives.
For more information, visit:
www.rockwellautomation.com/go/wmoem
For more information on Machine Builder Solutions
from Rockwell Automation, visit
www.rockwellautomation.com/solutions/oem
Allen-Bradley, Energy Intelligence, EnergyMetrix, FactoryTalk, Industrial GreenPrint, IntelliCENTER, Kinetix, MP-Series, PowerFlex, PowerMonitor, Rockwell Software, RSEnergyMetrix, SMC-50 and
Total Cost to Design, Develop and Deliver are trademarks of Rockwell Automation Inc. CIP is a trademark of ODVA. Trademarks not belonging to Rockwell Automation are property of their
respective companies.
Publication OEM-BR018A-EN-P January 2013
Copyright © 2013 Rockwell Automation, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in USA.