Business: Industrial
Getting Ideas for Energy Management Opportunities
2.1.9 Maintenance issues
Let us not overlook the energy benefits of preventive maintenance.
The costs of having to shut down production because of equipment breakdown can quickly add
up:
- Customer penalties for delays in just-in-time delivery environments;
- Higher
labour costs that may include overtime to make up for lost time; - Higher overhead
costs; and - Extra energy cost to keep the line on standby and hold the molten
metal ready for casting, etc.
If you have not done so already, try to figure
out the cost of various components for one hour of down time. It is likely
that its energy component will be
substantial. Planned preventive maintenance can help to reduce the unplanned
down time and
should be a routine part of overall operations. Preventive maintenance,
therefore, is a very important part of an energy conservation program and energy
efficiency
improvements in any foundry. The chances are that the investment in preventive
maintenance will pay off very quickly in both operational and energy savings.
When preparing a preventive maintenance schedule, do not forget to include hand
tools (particularly ones driven by compressed air). Apart from extending
the useful life of the tools, this will result in a reduction of compressed
air usage (thus, energy).