Utilities audit

The approach we adopt is not just a measurement based survey but more importantly focuses on the design and operation of the utility equipment and utility usage throughout the factory.

Following the work we have carried out with regard to the utilities of water, effluent and chemicals, several clients have asked for similar work to be carried out on all of the utilities. We are able to offer a comprehensive service covering all of a clients utilities by combining our expertise with that of another consultancy, Industrial Energy Surveys Ltd .

The joint venture between us and Industrial Energy Surveys offers a consultancy with over 25 years experience in the design, operation and auditing of each of the major utilities i.e water, effluent, power, compressed air, refrigeration ,steam and chemicals. As many of the utilities are linked in some way either by power or water usage , we have found that an integrated approach covering all utilities ensures that optimising one utility does not impose additional constraints or increased costs either for other utilities or the manufacturing process.

The joint venture has now carried out work in a variety of different industries and therefore has in depth process knowledge which we believe is essential in understanding utility usage and benchmarking across these industries.

The approach we adopt is not just a measurement based survey but more importantly focuses on the design and operation of the utility equipment and utility usage throughout the factory.

We have found that most audits and surveys have focused on cost saving from reduction of usage via leakage prevention and other simple techniques. Whilst this approach is essential in the first instance, most industries have carried out this work in house and are unaware of the significant savings that can be made from the second stage approach.

This second stage approach examines the overall design of the utility and looks to make savings by optimising the performance from supply or generation through treatment to process usage. This approach can typically yield savings in the region of 10-20 %.

We believe this approach is particularly important in the light of the upcoming climate change tariff and the implementation of ISO 14001 in order to satisfy environmental improvements and reduce energy costs.

We have formulated a policy and system for evaluating utilities which goes further than the traditional approach adopted by other audits.

Background
A component part of most Manufacturing companies strategy to improve productivity is to reduce the cost of production and packaging. One part of the cost of production is described by, and known as, the acronym PMUDO. The acronym stands for:

P People
M Maintenance
U Utilities
D Depreciation
O Other

The approach which has been taken toward the reduction of some of these component costs, notably ‘‘U’- the utilities’, has been fragmented. By fragmented we mean that the effort in each Company has been primarily the result of the efforts of the local engineers and local managers without reference to a generic, centralised plan. The various production plants have achieved savings in the cost of providing utilities through the use of this first-stage approach.

It is known that further, substantial savings may be made through a second-stage attack on the cost of providing utilities.

Utilities - A Changing Trend

At the simple and functional level the provision of utilities for most production facilities covers:

• The supply of water of suitable quality
• The supply of chemicals
• The disposal of solid and liquid effluents
• The generation of steam
• The generation of cooling
• The provision of electricity
• The provision of gases
• The provision of compressed air.

With the evolution of attitudes in businesses the provision of utilities now includes more than just the functional issues: the utilities must now be provided not only at lower costs but in a manner which is environmentally acceptable. Internationally, there is a greater awareness of pollution and environmental issues, consequently the Regulations on emissions into the environment are becoming more stringent. In accord with tighter Regulations, there is a steady increase in the trend of ‘ethical investment’ and two of the criteria by which companies have to report on and are judged against are environmental emissions and energy efficiency. As a result, a more professional approach covering the wider aspects of providing utilities to plants is becoming common, world-wide. In essence: World-class methods.

People (manning) & Maintenance

The design of packaged utilities plant has evolved rapidly during the last decade. The same levels of advanced design which have become common in cars and domestic goods have been applied in recent years to packaged utilities plant. This is not just true of the high-volume, mass produced, packaged products such as air compressors but also medium-volume products such as refrigeration units. Curiously, only some organisations are installing these advanced products into utility systems in a well engineered manner.

In those companies which have taken a professional view on the engineering of the utilities the results have been dramatic. A salient feature of modern utility plant which has been well engineered into a system is that it brings big reductions in manning and maintenance

Second-stage Surveys - The Generic Approach

When a cost reduction survey is conducted on the utilities in an individual company, the style of the survey is adapted to suit that plant. The analysis of data would inevitably include an assessment of specific consumption but thereafter the investigation would be conducted to suit specific, local objectives. Additionally, in a first-stage survey it is a straightforward matter to identify the main opportunities for cost reduction and a host of medium and minor opportunities are often ignored or marginalised.

In industry generally, the methods which are used to achieve second-stage cost reductions are different from those used in the simpler, first-stage. For multiple plants, second-stage cost reduction would involve a highly-planned, unified approach under which all of the production plants would be investigated in a generic manner. The approach would involve the use of specialist engineers working to a carefully compiled formal plan. In essence, the application of World-class methods.

A unified approach would involve collection of data not just on specific utility consumption but on how utilities are provided. This will allow assessment and comparison of how utilities are provided against best practice and best general practice for the utility: other industries use different methods of achieving results and a cross industry comparison is required.