Client Profile.
The client is a steel bars manufacturer with a daily production capacity of 1 ton bars of various sizes and shapes. Based out of India, the firm caters to a wide spectrum of automotive and heavy machinery manufacturers.
Business Need.
The manufacturing unit was equipped with six extrusion lines and a state-of-the-art shot blasting machine. The plant was permitted 95KW power consumption by the local power distribution company. Exceeding the permissible limits would invite high penalties.
When the manufacturing unit ran at full capacity, the power consumption would often over-shoot the permissible limits. To bring down the excess power consumption, one or two machines had to be immediately switched off. It resulted in a dual blow to the manufacturer- affecting production and attracting penalties.
The manufacturer was in need of constant online power consumption monitoring against rated consumption to avoid penalties and get instant notifications if utilization exceeded permissible limits.
Challenges.
- Most of the machines were conventional and offered very less or no automation capabilities
- Inefficient asset performance tracking processes to meet maximum asset productivity
- Limited control over assets and error-prone reporting systems
- Extensive human dependency for accurate power consumption analysis
Solution.
- A smart meter monitoring solution to track energy consumption by installing necessary sensors, smart energy meter and IoT gateway devices.
- Interactive dashboard to show real-time power consumption updates
- Instant, real-time alerts and notifications sent to teams, if consumption crossed penalty threshold limits.
Approach.
- Assessment: The HitechDigital team conducted an onsite visit and held in-depth brainstorming discussions with the steel manufacturer’s team to identify and understand the exact problem statement. The team received all machine-related details and monthly power consumption records of the plant.
- KPIs for threshold were defined and configured across machines.
- Developed a customized online remote monitoring solution that included:
- Installation of IoT-enabled gateway devices along with necessary sensors and smart energy meter.
- A web-based online monitoring dashboard for real-time data visibility and generation of hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly reports based on KPIs.
- Sending out alerts and notifications to stakeholders for various pre-defined threshold parameters.
- After validation by the manufacturer, a pilot test run was conducted before implementation.
- Smooth and glitch-free implementation at the plant location. Provided user training to all concerned stakeholders.
- Ongoing and regular quality checks to monitor health of sensors and energy meters; maintenance support provided for the smart meters.
- Hardware, software and technology used: Internet of things (IoT), smart energy meter, IoT edge gateway, Microsoft Azure cloud platform, Interactive dashboard and SMS/email for notifications.
Business Impact.
Generation of historical power consumption trends
Significant cost savings of 70-80% by saving monthly penalties
Machine uptime increased by 5%
Enhanced operational efficiencies and productivity
