Impact of Productivity on Energy Conservation

Abstract

Productivity has a major impact on energy use and conservation in
manufacturing plants. It is often more significant than the optimization
of equipment energy effi ciency. This article describes a lean manufactur-
ing, which represents the current state of the art in plant productivity. A
signifi cant opportunity for energy savings by transforming production
into a single-piece lean flow is demonstrated. The impact from major
individual productivity elements on energy is discussed. Simple metrics
and models are presented as tools for relating productivity to energy.
Simple models are preferred because productivity is strongly influenced
by intangible human factors, such as work organization and manage-
ment, learning and training, communications, culture, and motivation,
which are diffi cult to quantify in factories.