InImpact: The Journal of Innovation Impact

Publisher Future Technology Press
Vol. 8 No. 2 KES Transactions on SDM II - Sustainable Design and Manufacturing 2015
Volume Editors KES International
Journal ISSN 2051-6002
 
Article TitleA Methodology for Process and Energy Mapping In Production Operations
Primary AuthorMaria-Jose Rivas Duarte, Limerick Institute of Technology (Ireland)
Other Author(s) John Cosgrove; Frances Hardiman
Pages 412 - 425
Article ID sdm15-021
Publication Date 02-May-16
Abstract

The Manufacturing industry is increasingly accountable for the environmental impact that its activity has. Manufacturing operations design has shifted from a traditional strictly cost and quality approach to now including energy efficiency, zero waste and reduced carbon emissions. Although manufacturing companies have focused on reducing energy at a facilities level, research indicates that manufacturing processes generate a significant environmental impact through energy consumption, resource depletion and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To understand the consumption of energy in a production environment, it is necessary to outline the energy flow within the facility along with the classification of energy usage and its relationship to processes and production outputs. It is also important to identify auxiliary (non-value added) energy within production as the area with the greatest potential for savings through changes in operational behaviour. A review of methodologies that categorise energy usage in industry highlighted that companies still lack appropriate methods to effectively address energy efficiency in a comprehensive manner. This paper introduces a practical process mapping methodology that combines energy management with value stream mapping. The methodology is based on Lean manufacturing principles and upon application to a couple of industry use cases has been shown to successfully illustrate the relationship between the energy usage and production activities for a particular value stream. Furthermore the significant energy users (SEUs) in relation to the actual production process chains have been identified and the quantification of the auxiliary (non-value added) energy usage within the value stream is being developed.

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Remarks Paper presented at KES International Conference on Sustainable Design and Manufacturing, 12-14 April 2015
First date of publication in InImpact: 1 December 2015