Industrial manufacturing operations face many challenges in today’s marketplace. Plants must stay competitive, maintain a strong profit margin, be lean and efficient in operations, and ensure they are meeting industry benchmarks and global standards.
Any opportunity to reduce costs without sacrificing quality increases your company’s profitability and shareholder value.
Any strategic plantwide initiative focused on efficiency and cost savings should include proactive equipment maintenance, energy efficiency, and carbon output reduction. Here are some practical ways you can promote industrial efficiency in your plant!
Efficiency through Proactive Equipment Maintenance
Well maintained, efficient equipment improves reliability, reduces waste, and increases plant productivity. No matter your industry, routine maintenance is essential for extending the lifespan of your equipment and achieving maximum operating efficiency.
But that doesn’t always mean underperforming equipment needs to be replaced. An upgrade, repair, or retrofit can provide a cost-efficient solution that improves performance and reduces energy costs. Let’s look at an example.
Our field engineers recently performed an aerial thermal inspection for one of our power plant customers. We scanned baghouses, dry scrubbers, and surrounding ductwork to identify possible air pollution control issues. We discovered several areas with very high-temperature deviations. These temperature variations indicated thinning steel, corrosion, holes, or cracks that needed repairs. The power plant used this information to plan their next outage, saving $20,000/day during the outage by planning for maintenance in previously-identified hard-to-reach areas.
As a result of this proactive maintenance and outage preparation, this power plant saved between $100,000 – $250,000 during that outage.
Learn more about the importance of planning for your yearly outages!
Energy Efficiency and Carbon Reduction
Energy savings don’t always require significant overhauls and capital improvements.
Adding new technology or features to older systems can delay equipment performance and efficiency declines. Sometimes, we can even improve performance to provide net gains for the plant. With improved efficiency, your equipment needs less fuel for the same output, which may also result in fewer carbon emissions.
Read more strategies for reducing the carbon output of your current equipment here!
We understand the importance of reducing your corporate carbon footprint. Our experts are committed to helping your company take significant steps towards reducing carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions, saving your facility both time and money! Learn more.
Technological Efficiency to Minimize Inventory Data Costs
Proactive strategies make a big difference in industries that face ever-changing demand. Facilities that utilize technological innovations can maximize efficiency and drive down costs. One example is pulp and paper facilities that use aerial intelligence to assess their inventory. Drones can survey wood storage and supply sites, sending data to plant managers in real-time. These plants can use the information gathered by drones to adjust supply chains to meet demand and ensure optimal performance. Aerial intelligence can provide:
- More accurate data for site controllers
- Improved opportunities for operations teams to optimize logistics
- Real-time inventory assessments for supply managers
This helps industrial facilities improve supply chain efficiency and respond to ever-shifting demand, which has a tremendous impact on the bottom line by freeing up resources and streamlining operations.
ProcessBarron and SouthernField provide pulp and paper companies with proactive maintenance and other field services. Contact our experts for more information.
Reducing Carbon and Cost through our Industrial Efficiency Program
ProcessBarron and SouthernField EEC have developed an innovative approach to combat efficiency issues that prohibit your plant from reaching optimal production levels. Our Industrial Efficiency Program (IEP) uses cutting-edge technology to focus on safety, outage efficiency, plant efficiency, and profit opportunities through a total-system approach. Learn more about the IEP’s cutting-edge technology and how it can help your plant.
To learn more about how we can identify ways to create energy savings and reduce emissions for your plant, reserve an IEP appointment today!