Motor Decisions Matter is a national awareness campaign designed to promote the benefits of sound motor management to corporate and plant decision-makers. Effective motor management can reduce costly downtime as well as save energy and money.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, there are approximately 12.4 million electric motors of more than 1 horsepower in service in U.S. manufacturing plants. Approximately 2.9 million of these motors fail every year, with 600,000 resulting in replacements. The rest are repaired. Since these motors consume 679 billion kilowatt hours annually (23 percent of all the electricity sold in the United States), even small efficiency improvements can have dramatic economic and environmental consequences.
MDM’s goal is to increase the demand for premium-efficiency motors and quality motor repair services by highlighting the positive effects of good motor management on business performance. The campaign encourages customers to work through local motor professionals and others to develop motor management plans. The campaign helps industrial and commercial customers use lifecycle costing methods to determine whether motors should be repaired or replaced before they fail, and when to install premium-efficiency motors.
The 1-2-3 Approach is a software tool in the form of a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that demonstrates how industrial and commercial facility managers can reduce downtime and save energy by proactively managing their motor fleets.
This tool is ideal for small to medium-sized companies that might have limited resources. It is easy to use and enables the customer to begin the process of formulating a motor management plan. By having a motor management plan in place before motors fail, the customer can make a cost-effective decision on the spot—whether it’s replacing with an energy-efficient NEMA Premium motor or specifying a best-practice repair.
Here’s what the 1-2-3 spreadsheet can do:
• Calculate energy cost and potential energy savings
• Calculate (and compare) the financial impact of repairing or replacing motors
• Determine the payback periods for NEMA Premium motors
• Calculate return-on-investment and net present value
• Print tags that identify the best repair/replace options for each motor
• Generate a summary report.
Through participating MDM sponsors, the 1-2-3 Approach to Motor Management (and accompanying user’s manual) is available at no cost to customers. To use the 1-2-3 Approach, industrial and commercial customers must provide nameplate data, hours of usage and local electricity rates. The spreadsheet does the rest.
Follow up
Develop a motor management plan with the local motor representative to take advantage of other opportunities to reduce downtime and increase productivity. The 1-2-3 Approach can be used to make a persuasive business case for senior-level management.
Sponsoring organizations of the Motor Decisions Matter campaign include:
Electrical Apparatus Service Association (EASA)
National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)
Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE)
U.S. Department of Energy
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Motor Manufacturers
Utility and state energy-efficiency programs.
See the story that goes with this sidebar: Motor Management Makes Business Sense
