Powering through
Moulding SME preps for energy manufacturing crisis
At least a quarter of British SMEs polled by a recent YouGov survey suggests that for at least a quarter of them power bills will become unsustainable within the next few months . The fallout could be huge , particularly among the SME plastic processing community . With manufacturing insolvencies soaring by 63 percent in the last 12 months according to Mazars , Surrey-based technical moulder and SME Broanmain Plastics has proactively powered through in its approach to tackle the spiralling energy costs . Here ’ s how .
This energy crisis is a worry for every individual and enterprise . Not least manufacturing SMEs that are utterly reliant on power to make parts . Despite the welcome six month reprisal , as we hurtle into winter , even capping the costs at less than half the market rate is still a cost pressure that is hard for the most energy efficient business to absorb .
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The BPF ’ s Energy Management in Plastics Processing guide indicates that energy usage and costs can be reduced by over 30 percent through better management , capital investment and maintenance actions . Although there ’ s not a single ‘ megawatt ’ energy saving solution – moulding technical components requires power after all – Broanmain ’ s new Maintenance Engineer Steven Romano has taken the lead ( and a leaf out of the BPF book ) and introduced a number of process and site improvements to help cushion the financial shock .
SITE IMPROVEMENTS A planned maintenance regime might not sound like a Eureka ! energy saving scheme , yet as part of a continual improvement programme can deliver surprising and quick results . As testament , Steven has spent the past six months examining Broanmain ’ s entire fleet of machinery and created a modified iPlan maintenance schedule that red flags more pressing maintenance tasks to reduce machine downtime .
Maintenance Engineer Steven Romano has helped Broanmain to introduce a number of process and site improvements to help cushion the financial shock of energy price rises .
Aligned to the company ’ s material waste reduction and First Time True quality culture , he explains : “ Having this schedule keeps our technologies running as cleanly and efficiently as possible , cutting our production carbon footprint even further .”
Having worked in maintenance for more than 30 years , from his experience Steven estimates that an effective maintenance regime can reduce unplanned machine breakdowns by as much as 60 percent .
Another simple routine to introduce is monthly air and water filter changes , states Steven . Cleaner water protects tools . Less rust also reduces system contaminations , preventing component defects and material waste . Plus significantly improves heater efficiency .
LIVE DASHBOARD DATA Tapping into energy supply data over the Wi-Fi , the team can now view exactly what it is costing by the hour to run the company ’ s fleet of 11 injection moulding machines , plus all ancillary ,