Forbo and EDS use data to save energy
Forbo Flooring, an international flooring specialist based in Assendelft, has been looking at the impact of products on the environment for more than 100 years. In addition to environmental product declarations and measuring the environmental impact of making a product, they also look at the production process and how to make it as energy efficient as possible. Rob Baars, Energy Specialist at Forbo: "We have a problem as a company when it comes to the energy transition. This is no different for other companies. We have to get the nominal charges down and look for energy-saving opportunities in order not to run into problems later on. In doing so, we are seizing everything we come across. I was therefore pleased that EDS knocked on our door for a cooperation in the field of compressed air."
Forbo is working on various energy savings. These include energy-efficient production lines, better management and control of air conditioning, energy-efficient lighting including motion sensors in the buildings, and the use of solar panels on roofs to generate their own electricity. Rob: "When EDS came to me to talk about compressed air, I actually wanted to brush them off. After all, I know the compressed air story. Until it turned out that EDS's story is different from everyone else's because EDS has a view of the whole thing from generation to end user(s). They install a monitor that measures data of compressed air, flow, pressure and humidity. They link this data to production data and thus chart the consumption of the installation. It is important for us to gain insight into which departments and processes are large consumers and cause peak consumption of compressed air. This knowledge makes controlling peak loads in the generation of compressed air, so-called peak shaving, applicable and the effect on process continuity transparent. This contributes to the energy transition because this peak shaving will play an important role in preventing overloading of the power grid."
Markus Rahusen, owner and founder of EDS-Air Technology: "Our company is driven by innovation and sustainability. If you break down what we do into separate pieces, none of those pieces are really innovative. After all, there are already plenty of companies that supply compressors or do leakage audits. What makes us unique is that we work with the plant owner to detect, solve and implement problems. Compressed air is considered unimportant by many companies. The advantage of compressed air is that it is not dangerous, you do not see it when it leaks and it does not smell. By the way, these are also disadvantages of compressed air. We show companies that compressed air is an important part of saving energy. And we see this by looking at the correlation between compressed air data and production data. What we do, we always do together with the customer because they bring as much knowledge to the table as we do."
Together with Crown van Gelder, EDS developed a mobile dashboard. Markus: "We are now going to deploy the mobile dashboard at Forbo as well. The costs for the installation owners are quite low. We already have the flow meters and creating a measuring point can be done quickly and safely at low cost. After all, it's the data we want." Rob adds: "We feel that five of the fourteen sub-areas show significant consumption of compressed air. At those five points we now want to do a measurement to see how the compressors are actually performing. That will be correlated to production data and then we can look for conclusions and leads."
For EDS, it is nice to work with a party like Forbo. Markus: "I notice from the atmosphere within the company that they are open to innovations and new things. They also have no problem sharing production data with us. This is because they know it can provide energy savings." Rob: "We are specialists in flooring and not in compressed air. We are therefore situated to throw open our doors to things we are not specialists in. Unlike in the past, we now realize more and more that we have to let the specialists do their work. And by working with specialists, knowledge sharing is guaranteed, this is also important to us." Markus adds: "If you open yourself up to the outside world then something could possibly happen that you could not have thought of yourself. I often compare compressed air to the speed at which a car travels. Many companies don't actually know how fast they are driving. In this metaphor, the maintenance manager is the driver of the car. But who doesn't end up paying the fine! Reducing compressed air consumption is something we must do together, and Techport is helping us to do this. By bringing together parties who otherwise would not easily seek each other out. To share the knowledge we gain, we are also organizing a webinar on May 27, 2021, in cooperation with Techport. Here we will talk about compressed air and data. By sharing knowledge, we increase the chances of potential collaborations. And that is what both Forbo, and EDS and also Techport are looking for."
Want to know more about Forbo, EDS or Techport? Then contact Gerik ten Berge(gerik.ten.berge@techport.nl)