In a world where efficiency counts more than ever, manufacturing companies are faced with a dilemma: how can energy be saved without hampering the production flow? The answer lies in the data. However, these are often scattered, incomplete or not available at all. This is where ENLYZE comes in, a cloud-based solution that enables small and medium-sized production companies to understand, control and optimize their energy consumption.
The challenge: Lack of data to uncover potential savings
Manufacturing companies are required to save energy in order to create economic added value, meet regulatory requirements and comply with environmentally friendly operating standards. In view of political efforts to minimize CO₂ emissions and promote the transition to a sustainable economy, companies are obliged by laws and guidelines to monitor and reduce their energy consumption. Identifying potential savings is therefore not only a question of cost efficiency, but also an integral part of complying with current and future environmental regulations. By identifying potential savings, companies can take proactive measures to optimize their energy consumption and minimize their environmental footprint at the same time.
However, understanding and optimizing energy consumption in production is a challenge for many manufacturing SMEs. The causes of rising energy consumption are often not directly recognizable and there is no overview of consumption in combination with order and process data. This makes it difficult to identify all potential savings.
The solution: Cloud-based process data collection and evaluation
This is where ENLYZE comes in: With the app from the Cologne-based start-up of the same name, users can record and evaluate production data of all kinds. The solution links energy and production data and shows companies which orders and products consume how much energy.
ENLYZE connects to electricity meters, machines and control systems as well as PDA, MES and ERP systems from a wide range of manufacturers – even without standardized interfaces such as OPC UA. The process parameters collected from the systems are recorded using a dedicated edge device. The data is then transferred to the protected ENLYZE cloud, where it is processed and structured into various data models. One challenge here is that every plant and every system stores the data provided in different formats and units. However, the ENLYZE app standardizes this data so that it can be handled uniformly in one place.
The processed data can be prepared in real time in the cloud to create dashboards, reports and process analyses. Historical data can also be called up at any time. Dashboards allow production managers or the quality department to view and analyze the data from different perspectives in order to intuitively uncover potential savings. A product improvement matrix helps to identify potential energy savings across different plants and shows which products can be manufactured most economically and how.
For further analysis, the data can be exported to tools such as Power BI, Python, Grafana or MS Teams.
The result: IoT implementation in less than two weeks
ENLYZE enables companies to record and use production-relevant data quickly and with little IT effort. ENLYZE’s IoT solution can be implemented in less than two weeks. Implementation begins with a feasibility check and the development of an integration plan and ends with onboarding once the solution has been integrated. The customer’s IT department usually has less than eight hours of work to do.
The data is securely encrypted. Users receive support through consultation appointments and can use the app for better production control. By optimizing energy consumption, costs can ultimately be reduced and production performance improved, making ENLYZE an effective tool for data-based production improvements.
Overall, ENLYZE offers a comprehensive IoT approach to help customers understand, monitor and optimize their energy consumption to enable more efficient and cost-effective production processes.
