Originally posted in 2016, Energy Efficiency is still a relevant issue. We’ve edited the article with additional information.
As of late, I have been taking a closer look at the area of energy efficiency and how this sector could benefit from Enterprise Asset Management…and the resulting information and statistics have been eye-opening, to say the least.
In the past, organizations boasting major facilities practiced EAM for years. Still, in recent times this landscape has shifted dramatically – today, successful companies are relying more on technology and smarter asset management because it seems to be a requirement for staying competitive within:
• An uncertain economy
• Growing global competition
• Added regulatory pressures
• An aging infrastructure
In the realm of energy efficiency, this approach is no longer relegated to the “big boys,” as even small-to-medium-sized businesses in this sector benefit from Enterprise Asset Management. You see, EAM has grown to include sustainability that focuses on energy efficiency, and companies boasting plants, facilities, and equipment are now facing a daunting reality: Energy consumption seems to be eroding profit margins. As escalating energy costs continue to grab a larger part of the maintenance and operating budget, corporate suits have to focus on the challenge of managing energy use, in addition to growing public and governmental concerns regarding carbon emissions and other pollutants.
To meet this challenge head-on, software enterprises – i.e., companies such as IBM and its Maximo asset management solution – have been stepping up to the proverbial plate to provide advanced tools for monitoring energy consumption at the asset level, with the goal being to support maintenance, replacement and process control decisions and even behavioral change. What is the result when these tools factor energy demand management with traditional asset management functions?
• The elimination of waste for better operational efficiency
• Lower energy costs
• Improved regulatory compliance from lower carbon emissions
While we will cover the actual energy costs of not integrating with an EAM in a separate article, it’s important to note here that asset management systems – and the companies behind them – are striving to facilitate continual improvement in energy performance. The challenges that face such companies run the gamut from figuring out how to combine people, processes, and technology that support energy policy to strategic planning, which will provide visibility for monitoring, measuring, and analyzing asset performance. The systems would also need to identify nonconformities, corrective actions, and preventive measures, adding auditing capabilities for conformance.
Since we touched on the “tools” asset management firms have been experimenting with to monitor energy consumption at the asset level, let’s take a more in-depth look at what those tools can actually offer enterprises:
Asset sustainability fuses energy management with existing EAM functions to proactively identify, optimize and automate maintenance, thus comparing assets’ performance with their energy usage across the enterprise. Best-in-class EAM products, like IBM’s Maximo, provide tools to help organizations gather information from all their energy-consuming assets to support better decision-making about how and when to maintain, replace or alter assets based on all relevant costs. With best-in-class asset sustainability solutions, enterprises can:
• Maximize Maintenance Effectiveness – Streamline the maintenance process to extend the lifecycle of assets and improve productivity.
• Reduce Inventory Costs – Avoid unnecessary inventory by utilizing tools to monitor and control inventory levels while automating purchasing and inventory management.
• Increase Warranty Recovery – Track repairs eligible for warranty claims.
• Boost Equipment Uptime – Improve asset performance and extend asset life to avoid production or service operations downtime, all by forecasting failures and recommending alternatives.
• Improve Reliability and Risk Management – Forecast and mitigate asset reliability and regulatory risks by performing asset profiling, tracking changes to data and attributes, and foreseeing performance against key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Reduce Energy Consumption – Improve asset performance via incorporating energy into the maintenance decision process at the asset level to eliminate inefficiency and reduce operational cost.
Companies that have jumped on the energy consumption component bandwagon concerning their asset management have realized big reductions in energy usage, a quick ROI, and improved environmental conditions – to say nothing of increased shareholder value and fresh new market opportunities.
