EMC2 Energy Management Information System

Energy is the most costly ingredient in all manufacturing today, whether electricity, gas, Water, steam or compressed air, energy has to be used sparingly - and optimally. With increases in utility costs, tax levies and environmental initiatives, businesses are under pressure to improve their utilities and energy consumption.

The energy management system, reduce your utility costs and carbon footprint, or monitor the effectiveness of an existing campaign, there is one fundamental factor - you will need accurate data to understand your utilities’ consumption, identify and target inefficiencies and monitor the effectiveness of your actions.

Lean Automation Introduces EMC2 for the better understanding of energy use and costs, calculate performance levels, calculate targets and model energy use. A range of techniques would be utilized, from simple to complex. These would be selected to suit the problems being addressed (rather than selecting an analysis technology and then finding a problem to suit).

An EMC2 provides information to appropriate personnel within an organization to help them manage energy use and costs. The exact nature of the EMC2 will depend on:

  • the particular site
  • the processes and plant involved
  • the cost of energy (in relation to other costs)
  • existing meters and instruments
  • monitoring and control systems
  • the data historian
  • data analysis and reporting systems
  • existing management systems

EMIS Functional Requirements

  • Monitor consumption and any affecting factors
  • Data aggregation from disparate data sources
  • Online energy balance
  • Sustainability KPIs , e.g. kWh/t, GJ/t or m3 water/t
  • Alerts for sudden changes in use patterns
  • Usage and cost analysis: product, media, process, etc.
  • Benchmark : periods, target performance, best practices
  • Optimal energy consumption target
Actions that generally need to be taken in order to address energy use in an EMP(Energy Management Program) may include one or more of the following
  • developing and approving an energy policy and strategy
  • training and actions to raise knowledge and awareness
  • energy audits to identify and evaluate opportunities
  • developing and implementing improvement opportunities
  • implementing performance management systems, including the EMC2

An EMC2 is the key element of performance management; it also provides essential support to the energy auditing process. EMC2 is a software solution that is tightly integrated into an organization’s systems for process monitoring and control and IT systems. Furthermore, the EMC2 will often be part of a larger system used to manage process (and business) performance more generally.

It is important to recognize that an EMC2 does not stand alone. It needs management commitment, procedures, organization, training and appropriate technical expertise.

Benefits

  • Early detection of poor performance
  • Support for decision making
  • Effective performance reporting
  • Auditing of historical operations
  • Identification and justification of energy projects
  • Evidence of success
  • Support for energy budgeting and management accounting
  • Energy data to other systems