If you want operational efficiency in manufacturing, energy management had better be on the business agenda. If you want operational excellence, however, start thinking about managing the energy supply. Better yet, keep two words top of mind: demand response.
Demand response is a strategy that many utilities use to reduce peak load demand in service territories. On the residential side, customers might participate in a program in which they give a utility permission to flip a switch or send a signal that would reduce energy consumption. In the dog days of summer, when air conditioning is on full force, this is a way for utilities to reduce energy loads and avoid rolling blackouts — an intentional power outage engineered by the electric company to circumvent a total blackout of an overloaded grid.
For the everyday consumer, participating in a demand response program means a little discomfort on a hot day, which is acceptable. For manufacturers, a lull in electricity could lead to a production line breakdown, which is not acceptable. As a result, demand response has not been embraced in industrial environments. But ABB and Honeywell aim to change that.
Last month, these two process automation giants purchased companies specializing in smart grid technologies and services that intelligently automate demand response.