How improving energy efficiency can benefit customers

When manufacturers are busy creating their customers’ parts and maintaining their machines, considering energy efficiency falls off the priorities list

However, making injection moulding machinery as energy efficient as possible doesn’t just reduce manufacturing costs but environmental impact and the final price passed on to the customer too.

Do electric machines reduce energy costs?

Electric machines eliminate the need for hydraulic oils and can execute different operations at once. This means that cycle times are reduced and energy is used more efficiently. These machines also use less power during the start-up process, which translates into lower maximum demand requirements and greater energy efficiency.

However, the cost of electrical energy is not going down any time soon. Even if an electric machine has been used for a number of years, old machinery, or machines that haven’t been maintained, will incur large energy costs for manufacturers and their customers.

How about buying new machines?

Today’s new hydraulic plastic injection moulding machines are 25% more energy efficient than even 20 years ago. Top-of-the-range all-electric moulding machines today might even be 80% more efficient than older hydraulic moulding machines.

According to the British Plastics Federation, there are still energy savings to be made, whether businesses choose to invest in new machinery or not: “Experience shows that for typical sites where little action has been taken in the past, over 30% of the energy use is ‘discretionary’ – this means that the cost is incurred because the site management has either decided to take no action or because it has not recognised the opportunities for improvement. In most cases, energy use and costs can be reduced by over 30% and these savings add directly to the site profits.”

How to make energy savings

Cutting waste is the first rule of thumb. Here are some operational changes that can reduce energy consumption and benefit manufacturers’, and their customers’, bottom line.

• Insulate your machine barrels properly. This will help reflect heat back into the process, lowering operating costs and minimising start-up time. It will also help you maintain a consistent operating temperature, cutting wasteful energy and saving manufacturing time.

• Use a variable speed drive instead of an electric servo. This will reduce your power loss while improving your process control. It’ll also reduce wear and tear that impacts the motor, and so reduce downtime.

• Analyse your life cycle costs. Understanding the process’s energy consumption involves comparing energy use (kWh) with production volume (kg) over at least 12 months. This will produce a base load figure, which shows how much energy is used at zero production, and a variable or process load figure, which is the energy needed to produce one kilogram of product. Monitoring this cost will help to see changes in the bottom line of each part sold.

• Use the correct machine. Producing a wide range of parts in a single-size machine may seem like a great way to reduce costs but it’s a waste of money and time in the long run. If the part size and press tonnage fail to align, it’ll lead to over- or under-usage in the machine’s capabilities, wasting energy (and money) in the production process.

• Automate to maximise cycle times. The beauty of automation is that it can help to optimise cycle times. Incorporating Industry 4.0 means machine data can be collected in real time, enabling predictive maintenance and a more streamlined, energy-efficient process. This reduces both costs and lead times for customers.

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Questions?

Email us at sales@essentracomponents.co.uk or speak to one of our experts for further information on the ideal solution for your application 0345 528 0474.