How MES/MOM Is Used to Improve Sustainability and Reduce Energy Usage in Production

Overview

Manufacturing Execution Systems/Manufacturing Operations Management (MES/MOM) can reduce energy costs, improve energy efficiency and competitiveness. By reducing and managing energy, users can lower production costs while improving their carbon footprint and become more sustainable.

Energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions tracking, management and reduction is often included as part of MES/MOM applications. The popularity of  energy management applications in MES/MOM are being driven by sustainability and environmental concerns, energy costs, carbon emissions, and regulatory compliance. And modern MES/MOM applications have been updated with newer technologies like AI, ML, VR/AR, digital twins, low code no code platforms, edge and cloud that are used with the energy management applications.

MES/MOM software can help companies monitor and optimize their production processes, identify areas of waste and inefficiency for improvement, and enable data-driven actions that can improve sustainability and reduce greenhouse gases. 

Implementing sustainable manufacturing practices can result in as much as 30 percent in cost savings for manufacturing companies. These savings can come from reduced energy consumption, more efficient use of materials, improvements in equipment or machinery and optimized productivity.

Energy and Emissions Specific to the Industry

Often, understanding a company’s carbon footprint can be the first step towards taking action to reduce energy costs. To improve sustainability and reduce energy usage, it is important that energy data and information from production is used. While it is not entirely possible to reliably compare production emissions, there is a high share of industrial greenhouse gas emissions and energy usage from some industries that can be targeted. High industrial CO2 emissions are partly due to the energy intensity of the production processes and the greenhouse gases that are produced in the production processes themselves, for example as a byproduct of a blast furnace converter process commonly used in steel production or during the burning of cement clinker and lime production in the construction materials industry. For industries with high CO2 emissions, it is important that manufacturing companies consider ways to reduce their carbon emissions and energy usage.

And most companies have already begun their sustainability journey for various reasons. The US government Department of Energy (DOE) has assembled standards maps and measurements that illustrate standard energy usage and GHG emissions for most major industries to help companies benchmark and improve their processes for GHG emissions. These energy “maps” can be used by respective industries to compare their production processes to a standard to help identify areas for improvement. Industrial companies can compare the information from their MES/MOM energy consumption data to the data provided by the DOE, to standard energy consumption data, to referenced energy loss and emission factors and to inputs from industry and SMEs to help identify energy improvement opportunities and best practices. This information can also help suppliers develop new technologies that address process areas needing improvement.

Compliance Reporting for EU and ROW

Immense efforts are needed to achieve global compliance particularly since the industrial sector is one of the largest single emitters of greenhouse gases. Industry has a moral obligation to address the issue of greenhouse gas reduction, especially as legal regulations tighten, and public pressure for compliance increases. Businesses need strategies and technologies that can switch to low-carbon or carbon-neutral production processes. As companies transform their business toward carbon neutrality, it is important that they act quickly to exploit the opportunities.

Reducing Energy and GHG

Companies can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy usage in their production and operations in many different ways. The specific strategies and technologies used will vary depending on the industry, the company, manufacturing process and operations and many other factors. Reductions can come from different areas such as reduced energy consumption, more efficient use of materials, and improved productivity. By optimizing energy in manufacturing and operations, manufacturers can save millions of dollars each year and reduce their GHG contribution.

Benchmarking GHG and Energy Usage

Many governments and regulatory bodies have their own standards and regulations for measuring and reporting direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, where GHG means any gaseous compounds that absorb infrared radiation, trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to the greenhouse effect. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires certain facilities to report their GHG emissions annually, including Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.

Scope 1 emissions are from direct GHG emissions that result directly from an organizations activities or sources that are owned or controlled by the organization, i.e., combustion of fossil fuels in boilers, electricity, heat, or steam, vehicles, and other organizational equipment, etc. Scope 1 emissions are considered the most significant and relevant emissions to an organization's operations.

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Keywords: MES/MOM, Production Management, Sustainability, Energy Management, GHG emissions, ARC Advisory Group.