Manufacturing technology specialist POET Systems has expanded its platform with new energy and environmental management capabilities designed to help manufacturers identify inefficiencies, reduce consumption and improve operational performance.
The development forms part of a wider expansion of the POET platform over the past 12 months, taking it beyond its core Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) capabilities covering areas including downtime, availability, quality and performance.
The new functionality, known as POETS Lean Environmental and Energy Management (LEEM), enables manufacturers to bring energy and environmental monitoring data into POET's existing dashboards, providing greater visibility of how resources are being consumed alongside manufacturing performance.
The technology can incorporate data covering electricity, gas, water and oil consumption, as well as environmental measurements including gases, CO2, humidity, noise and light levels.
POET Systems has developed the capability following a partnership with an industrial smart monitoring technology provider, integrating information generated by monitoring devices into the POET platform to provide manufacturers with a more accessible view of what is happening across their operations.
The technology is currently being piloted with a large manufacturing business in Bridgend, where early findings have already highlighted significant periods of process idle time and the associated energy consumption.
POET Systems Managing Director Phil Roberts said the pilot demonstrates the potential for manufacturers to use better operational data to identify costs that may otherwise remain hidden.
He said:
“Energy is a significant cost for manufacturers, but businesses need visibility of where that energy is actually being used.
“What we're seeing through the pilot is that there can be periods where processes are idle but machinery is continuing to consume energy. Once you can see that information clearly, you can start making decisions about what you do differently.”
One option being explored is the ability to trigger machinery to shut down automatically when idle time exceeds a predetermined period.
Roberts said that, based on the scale of energy consumption within the business currently involved in the pilot, addressing identified periods of idle time could potentially result in six-figure savings.
The development reflects POET Systems' wider strategy of broadening the platform beyond traditional manufacturing performance measurement.
Rather than operating solely as an OEE dashboard, the company is increasingly looking to integrate different sources of operational data to give manufacturers a more complete picture of productivity, resource consumption and performance.
Roberts added:
“We have continually developed the core POET platform, but we also recognised that there was an opportunity to broaden what it can do.
“Energy and environmental performance is becoming increasingly important for manufacturers. Bringing that information together with operational performance means businesses can better understand what is happening, identify opportunities for improvement and, most importantly, act on them.”
POET Systems said it will continue developing its energy and environmental capabilities alongside the wider platform as it looks to help manufacturers turn operational data into measurable improvements in efficiency, productivity and cost.
