by Kelsey H | Nov 17, 2020 | Sustainability
As we discussed in our previous article, creating a sustainable manufacturing process is strategic for both environmental and financial reasons. All sustainable manufacturers have a common characteristic: an efficient process. To keep those processes running smoothly day after day, manufacturers need a robust plant maintenance program. Maintenance is an area that is easy to neglect, but it’s actually one of the most crucial pieces of the manufacturing sustainability puzzle.
Optimizing schedules and practices for plant maintenance has been proven to have a positive effect on operations costs and environmental impact. According to Schneider Electric, organizations that establish enterprise preventive and predictive maintenance programs find that maintenance costs can be reduced by more than 40 percent, while energy consumption drops by 10 percent. To discover the methods manufacturers have used to make their plant maintenance more sustainable, continue reading below.
Limit Cleaning Waste
In our current manufacturing environment, cleaning is absolutely essential to meeting industry regulations and creating faultless products. Equipment that isn’t cleaned properly is at risk for producing unreliable products, which is especially important in industries like pharmaceuticals. However, many manufacturing cleaning practices result in excessive water and chemical usage. Some manufacturers still choose to clean equipment by hand, which can be precise, but is also incredibly time-consuming. Other plants may use spray washers, which work quickly, but may not be very precise and tend to use more water than necessary. To conserve the most time and water, try using pressure washers for fine equipment details, and employ water cannons for larger pieces. As for cleaning agents, when possible, use a biodegradable cleaner. Chemical cleaners produce hazardous waste that is difficult to dispose of and harmful to the environment, and they’re typically not any less expensive than biodegradable options.
Repair Equipment
From time to time, your plant will inevitably experience equipment breakdowns. When possible, repair or refurbish equipment rather than purchasing brand-new machinery. Repairs can incur less than half the cost of a brand-new machine, so for smaller issues or solutions that will last for years, repairing is an especially economical decision. Plus, repairs can be done relatively quickly, while ordering new equipment may take weeks, leaving your facility operating at a less-than-optimal level. If you can’t repair the machinery, consider donating it to a trade association or educational facility instead of scrapping it. According to the EPA, repairing or reusing equipment will save nonrenewable resources, conserve energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower pollution.
Plan for Preventive Maintenance
When your manufacturing equipment unexpectedly breaks down in the middle of the production process, your plant is faced with an extensive amount of waste. The unfinished materials may need to be discarded, and subsequent processes will be delayed, resulting in less output and higher changeover times. Every minute spent rectifying the situation creates more waste. To avoid this issue, it’s essential to schedule time for regular preventive maintenance on equipment.
Effective preventive maintenance practices can cut costs and lower your overall plant waste levels. When creating your preventive plan, consult the equipment’s manufacturer to find out which machines will benefit from regular maintenance checks. Be sure to check on the appropriate frequency and find out how long it will take your team will need to perform the maintenance. With these details finalized, you can block out time for regular maintenance in your plant schedule. Ideally, preventive maintenance is best performed when the downtime will present minimal disruption to the rest of your processes.
For further sustainability, your plant may consider optimizing its entire manufacturing schedule to find the most efficient production process and identify the best time to shut down for maintenance. VirtECS manufacturing planning and scheduling software can deliver a wide range of capabilities to address these types of challenging production constraints. To receive more information on our planning & scheduling software, simply fill out the contact form below.
by Kelsey H | Nov 9, 2020 | Sustainability
If you’ve watched the news recently, you know environmental sustainability is at the top of the mind for consumers and businesses alike. According to a survey from Nielsen, 81 percent of consumers think it’s “extremely” or “very” important for companies to implement programs that help protect the environment.
For manufacturers, focusing on sustainability is not only about pleasing the environmentally conscious consumer. It can also be a strategic financial choice. Many people assume “going green” will be expensive and time-consuming, but in actuality, creating a sustainable and efficient plant actually saves money and time.
One of the most valuable tools in developing efficient processes is an optimized plant schedule. Advanced scheduling and planning tools help manufacturers increase output, lower costs, and conserve energy to minimize environmental impact in a number of keys ways, which we’ll discuss below.
Improved Resource Management
Over the past ten years, manufacturers have hit a lull in their ability to decrease waste. Since 2010, production-related waste disposal has remained steady at about 1.4 billion pounds per year, according to the EPA. Although there will always be some degree of waste as a byproduct of manufacturing, there is still work to be done preventing the disposal of misused materials. Improving your plant’s resource management through efficient planning and scheduling will help cut down on unnecessary waste. Mismanaged planning often leads to poor control over inventory and disjoined equipment processes, which result in costly wasted material and overuse of machinery. With an optimized schedule, your plant can better identify your ideal inventory and the timing of each process, with the ability to make quick adjustments if needed to generate less waste and minimize the effect on the environment.
Enhanced Energy Efficiency
In 2018, the industrial sector was responsible for nearly one-third of the total energy consumption of the United States. To lower the energy used by manufacturing production, equipment must be running at an optimal level to produce your desired output. If equipment is not needed for hours at a time throughout the production process, consider turning off as many parts as possible, or shut the machine off completely rather than letting it idle. Shutting down equipment can extend the lifespan of the machines, leave time for planned maintenance and lower utility bills.
With an advanced scheduling tool, manufacturers can identify ideal shut-down times of each piece of equipment, saving nonrenewable energy and lowering overall operating costs. In short, scheduling and planning will keep your plant from straining equipment when it’s not producing output and consuming unnecessary energy.
Higher Capacity Utilization
In addition to minimizing idling time, an optimized schedule will also identify how to maximize equipment output while in use. High changeover time can be one of the biggest roadblocks to reaching manufacturers’ output targets. Scheduling software can identify the constraints contributing to overall higher changeover times and help test potential solutions. For the biggest initial impact, concentrate on the processes with the greatest changeover time first, and then continue on to adjust the shorter changeovers where needed. The end result is higher product output and reduced energy usage.
Clear Communication
In order to lower waste, employees across the plant need to be able to communicate in real time as issues come up. Without streamlined communication, details can fall through the cracks. The ability to communicate back and forth keeps the flow of work moving most efficiently across the entire plant. A simple message about a delay can allow employees to enact short-term conservation efforts, which quickly add up to create a big impact on your company’s bottom line, as well as the environment.
An advanced scheduling and planning software tool, such as VirtECS, should include a communication module allowing any employee to access schedules and chat with others across the location. Here at Advanced Process Combinatorics, we can provide VirtECS Symphony, a web-based module which allows everyone in the plant to access the VirtECS schedule and send messages to other users. Our scheduling tool can also be updated quickly or automatically to reflect the plant’s current status and shift timing to account for delays communicated by employees or MES system. To learn more about VirtECS Symphony, download our overview here.
