Betz Chrom
Less effort, more insights
Betz Chrom is continuously increasing its energy efficiency. For ISO 50001 certification, these efficiency improvements must also be documented and various energy performance indicators determined. However, the owner-managed company did not just want to put in the effort for the audit, but wanted to derive real benefits from it. "This is only possible if you receive real-time data automatically," says Hannah Betz, Managing Director of Betz Chrom.
There were therefore two reasons for automating energy data collection and evaluation:
- Less effort required to determine energy performance indicators
- Access to real-time data that opens up real scope for action
Modern production, modern energy management
Betz Chrom coats workpieces and components with hard chrome or electroless nickel, protecting them from corrosion and wear. High-precision contours are produced in the grinding center, which are given a particularly high surface quality by means of superfinishing or polishing. These processes are very energy-intensive; the largest power consumers are the rectifiers of the 20 or so hard chrome plating baths.
The energy data of the large consumers was initially read out via data loggers and stored in various csv files. "It took weeks to evaluate something that was already long gone," reports Hannah Betz. To change this, Betz Chrom contacted several providers of energy management software, took a closer look at five systems and finally opted for econ4. "The software is simple in a positive sense. That was important to us, because it only makes sense if you can work well with it," explains Hannah Betz. "We were also impressed by the price-performance ratio."
Plant 1 in Gräfelfing already had numerous measuring devices and data loggers that could be easily integrated into econ4. The large energy consumers in Plant 2 in Maisach were fully equipped with the econ sens3 energy and power meter as part of the introduction of econ4 - "the best option", adds Hannah Betz. "Since its introduction in 2019, it has been absolutely reliable, whereas the other data loggers occasionally experience data failure or other difficulties."
Maximum ability to act
Since then, Betz Chrom has always had the relevant energy performance indicators up to date. In addition to the total power consumption, these are primarily the power consumption per machine or per hard chrome plating bath and the power consumption in relation to turnover.
Betz Chrom has set threshold values for the key figures and the relevant measuring points. When the power consumption of the exhaust air system dropped unusually sharply, the person responsible was notified immediately. It turned out that a motor had failed. Because the system works with two motors, it had not triggered an alarm.
The members of the energy team - the management, the technical and commercial manager, the production manager and the management systems officer - use econ4 practically every day. Everyone can compile the reports according to their needs. Many things are noticed even without alarms - for example, that the rectifier of a hard chrome plating bath had a basic consumption and the others did not. Switching it off during non-production times now reduces its power consumption.
In addition to electricity, Betz Chrom also monitors gas consumption and temperatures. In econ4, these are set in relation to the degree of regression. This indicates whether the gas consumption is within the usual range. If, for example, the high-speed doors in production are open for too long, there is a rash here. "We then train our employees accordingly. We can see the positive effect immediately afterwards - and also when it starts to diminish again," explains Hannah Betz. "If we were still evaluating csv data by hand, we wouldn't be able to recognize such things." The same applies if the cover of the chrome-plating baths is forgotten to be closed or the weekend shutdown of a machine is activated.
Betz Chrom was also able to determine the optimum mode of operation for the heaters in the baths with the help of the automated evaluations. Previously, they were switched on again on Sunday afternoon after the weekend shutdown. econ4 has shown that the baths are ready for operation on Sunday night - long before production starts. Now the switch-on service has been postponed accordingly.
In addition to the permanently installed measuring technology, the mobile measuring system from econ is also used. Betz Chrom uses this to check the sub-distribution boards to ensure that all larger consumers are actually being detected. "Even if we don't find any more, it's good to know that we can make a check here," says Hannah Betz. "What's more, we now know the consumer relationships very well and can concentrate on those that are really relevant."
Equipped for the future
Betz Chrom is currently integrating the data from econ4 into the production data acquisition (PDA) system. This will enable the surface specialist to determine the electricity consumption per product or per order in future, thus taking an important step towards a product carbon footprint, which is being requested by more and more customers.
The PV system that has been installed in the meantime and new systems have also been added to econ4. "econ4 can always grow with demand, so it is future-proof," says Hannah Betz.
The Managing Director sees new challenges for companies in the future: Volatile energy prices are making it increasingly interesting for companies to purchase energy flexibly and thus take advantage of low-price phases. "However, this only works automatically with software. So we haven't finished working on the topic of energy yet. In any case, we are well equipped."
"We used to need weeks for evaluations that we could do little with. With econ, we have real-time data and can act immediately".
Hannah Betz, Managing Director Betz Chrom