The Problem

In 2003, BMW’s plant at Hams Hall in North Warwickshire produced 125,000 engines at an energy cost in excess of £1.5m. Even though the company is extremely energy aware and has been successful in reducing consumption at the plant since its launch in 2001, they knew more could be done to cut costs and energy consumption.

Sentridge’s Solution

Sentridge Control worked extensively with BWM engineers, introducing ABB Variable Speed Drives at the Hams Hall Plant and saving many thousands of £s of energy. Working in partnership with one of the world’s leading automotive manufacturers, we helped achieve a 15% reduction in energy consumption.

The Full Story

Sentridge Control worked extensively with BWM engineers, introducing ABB Variable Speed Drives at Hams Hall Plant, near Birmingham and saving many thousands of £s of energy

Very quickly the Carbon trust got involved in many areas of the plant. This is what they said about the project

“Working in partnership with one of the world’s leading automotive manufacturers, we helped achieve a 15% reduction in energy consumption.

In 2003, BMW’s plant at Hams Hall in North Warwickshire produced 125,000 engines at an energy cost in excess of £1.5m. Even though the company is extremely energy aware and has been successful in reducing consumption at the plant since its launch in 2001, working with the Carbon Trust has helped to achieve additional savings. Our survey and analysis supported activities that resulted in significant reductions in energy spend last year, as a result of lowering consumption by 15%.

Major projects included a review of the plant’s air handling, heating and lighting systems, which led to a systematic optimisation of the energy measurement and monitoring processes. The Carbon Trust’s consultant worked closely with the BMW facilities management team to involve company employees in implementing a wide range of energy reducing initiatives. Opportunities for ‘good housekeeping’ were identified and an energy awareness campaign was carried out to encourage all employees and contractors to take an active par tin reducing energy use.

The most important energy saving measure introduced at the plant concerned improving control of the manufacturing services equipment. The introduction of variable speed drives, energy efficient motors by Sentridge Control and the rationalisation of the use of ancillary equipment brought significant benefits. Several measures required initial capital expenditure, but substantial savings were also achieved at no cost at all.

The Carbon Trust and BMW correctly calculated that the company would see its investment in energy saving technology paid back in less than one year. In 2004, the BMW engine plant achieved savings of almost £250k, representing a significant reduction in their biggest single item of expenditure.”

The Consultants view

The thing that struck me about BMW’s operation, was how focused they already were on minimising waste, maximising recycling potential and reducing energy consumption through effective energy management of the factory. Even though they had quite a number of energy-saving projects in operation, they were committed to reducing energy consumption even further.

Apart from getting confirmation that they were heading in the right direction, BMW were also keen to learn of any potentially effective new ideas that hadn’t previously been considered.

The base load of the plant was one area that was flagged up as a good potential source of energy saving, as this represented significant energy use, even at times when engines were not being produced. The whole plant is heated and ventilated to maintain optimum conditions for the machinery, so another option for energy saving was to look at temperature settings and run times to see whether they could be more closely matched to production hours. While already making effective use of their comprehensive energy management system, which feeds back information on energy use levels, BMW were upgrading it to include a cost reporting module. This allows them to determine how much any given piece of plant is actually costing them to run, enabling them to predict future running costs with much greater accuracy, which in turn leads to improved scheduling of plant operations and greater efficiency.

For me, they were an ideal client: receptive to new proposals and willing to take time to evaluate, analyse and implement potential energy-saving techniques and recommendations.

What’s more, they operate a shared learning philosophy that enables best practice to be exported to other plants within the BMW Group’s international production network.

Contact us to see how we can help you save Energy.