Integrated Materials Handling Solutions
Hanging Garment Sorter
Article from HSS Feb 2009 "You Can't Manage What You Can't Measure"
Warehouse operators are under increasing legislative and price pressures to reduce energy consumption within their operations. On average, just one non-automated, medium-range warehouse will have energy bills in excess of £200,000 per year, with automated and temperature-controlled facilities significantly more. This means that even making just a small percentage saving could have a positive effect on the bottom line and reduce the impact on the environment.
Lighting can be responsible for up to 60 per cent of energy usage, so refurbishing and updating a lighting system can have immediate results. High quality T5 fluorescent lights with high output lamps are now the most efficient lighting solution available that, whilst more expensive than older technology, can half electricity usage and possess vastly increased lifespan.
Modern lighting solutions also offer greater flexibility when combined with daylight and motion sensors, which ensures that light is available when needed but reduces it to a minimum when natural light is available or not in operation. One third party logistics operator that SDI Group is working with has installed an intelligent lighting system at a distribution centre that, at today’s electricity prices, will achieve payback within a year and will then save the company approximately £100,000 per year.
However, to achieve effective energy management, it is not just about installing the latest technology, but clever thinking to ensure an intelligent solution is created. It is critical in the first instance to measure usage levels and assess any available data to identify areas of waste and opportunities that exist. Following an audit of a site, simply developing a site policy has been found to reduce consumption by up to 15 per cent by better educating the workforce on energy-related procedures and best practise.
For example, electricity providers charge different tariffs during the day and night, so where possible high-intensity usage such as forklift truck charging should take place to coincide with off-peak rates. Furthermore, triad warnings – peaks in national electricity consumption that often occur between 4pm and 6pm – result in a cost penalty for users, so ramping down usage during these periods can achieve additional savings.
Just understanding what is actually needed in a facility can allow operators to optimise their operation and identify areas of underperformance. At one refrigerated site a saving of 15 per cent – equating to £250,000 of saving less in 18 to 24 months – was achieved just by adjusting controls with minimal capital expenditure. Elsewhere, a warehouse was operating two large air compressors when a single, much smaller variable speed drive compressor was sufficient (due to a change in operational requirements), resulting in unnecessary power usage.
Warehouses offer significant opportunity to reduce overheads by driving down energy consumption, but operators must question their current overheads to better understand where savings can be made.
SDI Group UK is a leading provider of systems and solutions to the retail, wholesale, fulfilment and e-commerce industries for all aspects of distribution centre materials handling. To date, the company has worked closely with a number of clients to develop innovative water and energy saving initiatives, using the latest technologies and techniques, to significantly lower operating and reduce the environmental impact of a facility.
