Versatech, a multi-faceted engineering
company based in Effingham, Ill., continually
expands its offerings to meet
the needs of its customers with automation,
robotics, work holding, machining, contract
manufacturing, and lean manufacturing consulting.
Recently, Versatech has focused on
offering energy management systems among
their data management solutions.
As an authorized systems integrator for Mitsubishi Electric, Versatech uses Mitsubishi Electric
technologies to deliver turnkey energy management
solutions. The energy management offerings
from Versatech can be used to perform ASHRAE
energy assessments; provide in-depth analysis
and reporting; identify specific energy conservation
opportunities; and help design, integrate, and
install energy saving hardware and software that
deliver both immediate and ongoing savings.
The company’s energy management offerings
are already providing significant cost savings for
large industrial facilities.
Cost reduction via better
energy management
Energy costs around the use of water, air, gas,
electric, and steam represent a large portion of
the operating expenditures for most manufacturing
facilities. They also represent a huge savings
opportunity. In fact, the U.S. Department
of Energy estimates that energy management
efforts at large American manufacturers have
saved about $2.4 billion in the past five years
alone. And this figure comes from facilities representing
only a tiny fraction of the country’s
overall manufacturing energy footprint, meaning
that there are likely savings representing tens
of billions of dollars more yet to be achieved
through smart energy management solutions.
“Many times, companies assume that high
energy costs are just a cost of doing business
and that not much can be done to reduce
them. This is simply not the case,” explained
Greg Gillespie, data program manager at
Versatech. “Measuring energy costs is the
first step in reducing them, and that’s where
Versatech and Mitsubishi Electric come in.”
Agri-Fab uncovers
hidden energy drains
As leader of Versatech’s Energy Management
Solutions offering, Gillespie is working to open the
eyes of manufacturers to the significant results
that can be achieved. A good example of this can
be seen in Versatech’s work with lawn equipment
manufacturer Agri-Fab, which asked Versatech to
perform an energy assessment in its plant. Based
on the resulting suggestions, Agri-Fab had Versatech
install a customized energy management
system to monitor its production equipment.
Versatech specified Mitsubishi Electric energy
management components for this system, including
the high-speed, high-accuracy Q Series programmable
logic controller and the EcoWeb-
Server III, an easy-to-use, scalable system that
collects energy consumption data throughout
the plant and provides snapshots and trend data
to be viewed in graph form in real time, 24/7,
from anywhere using a standard web browser.
This web-based visualization method eliminated
the need for a server and related management
and maintenance costs.
Since Agri-Fab did not yet have any networked
metering devices in place on its equipment,
Versatech installed several networkable
meters, including four Mitsubishi Electric
meters, allowing for the capture and storage of
equipment energy usage data.
Not long after Versatech installed the system,
Gillespie said they received a call from Agri-Fab
indicating the energy management system was
malfunctioning. Agri-Fab thought the system
was generating incorrect consumption data, but
that wasn’t the case.
“We investigated right away and found that
the energy management system was operating
just fine. It had discovered a significant energy
drain that Agri-Fab probably wouldn’t have found
otherwise,” explained Gillespie.
The source of the energy drain was Agri-Fab’s
paint curing ovens. After a recent maintenance
procedure, the ovens weren’t reset properly, causing
them start up for brief periods after hours
when no one was likely to be in the facility and
wasting significant amounts of energy.
Fixing this issue alone immediately led to annual
energy cost savings of nearly $70,000 for Agri-Fab.
But that was only the beginning of the fast and
easy energy savings generated by the Mitsubishi
Electric technologies in the Versatech system.
For example, an anomaly was discovered in air
compressor use at the plant. Correcting this issue
led to an estimated additional $50,000 in annual
energy cost savings.
As with the paint curing ovens issue, Gillespie
said “there was probably little chance of the air
compressor issue being discovered without the
Versatech system in place.”
Gillespie believes that there is much more savings
yet to come with Agri-Fab continuing to
monitor energy consumption over time.
“This is a continuous improvement tool that
allows customers to benchmark, monitor, and continue
to reduce their energy costs,” he explained.
“We provide training so that our customers can be
self-sufficient in getting the most out of it, and
we are also always at their service to provide any
additional support that they might need.”
Other parts of the Mitsubishi Electric energy
management product line carried by Versatech
include the MC Works software with analytics
package, which gives users highly customizable
dashboards and reporting capabilities, and MES
Interface IT—a unique tool that allows the consolidation
of data from nearly any brand of network
equipment into a single database without
the need for a PC.
“MES Interface IT is a great product,” said
Gillespie. “The integration is fast and seamless,
with nearly no coding involved. And you avoid the
hassles of a PC, alleviating the need for firmware
upgrades and the threat of a computer crash or
of the computer choking on the data flow. Once
the MES is installed, it just sits in the rack and
does its job very, very well. It’s the most robust
solution out there.”
Getting started with
energy management
No matter what system is ultimately chosen by a
user, Gillespie says the most important step is to
start the measurement process so that sources of
wasted energy can be identified and addressed.
“Energy management is not a complex concept.
You collect your data, establish a baseline, and act
on the information to effectively save energy and
save money,” he explained. “Mitsubishi Electric
products help give us the capability to do that very
successfully for our clients—and they’re excellent
products at very reasonable prices.”
