It’s no surprise that everyone is feeling the pinch and impact of of heavily rising energy prices for both residential as well as businesses and with further increases looming in the future. Both domestic and commercial energy costs are at an all-time high with the manufacturing industry being severely impacted. So, what can we do to alleviate the pressures and how can we better manage our energy requirements?

We’ll be discussing this very issue, the reasons for the sharp rise in energy costs, future impact as well as how Business Sense can help you better manage the spiralling energy costs for your business.

Why are energy costs rising?

Generally, it’s due to basic supply and demand in the global wholesale market with additional strain due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the various political and logistical games being played. Energy costs are rising at their quickest rate in 30 years, putting unprecedented pressure on households as well as businesses.

As expected, the increased costs are having a substantial effect on manufacturers of goods, who subsequently, are making difficult decisions on how to not only manage but to survive, usually by passing these increases down the supply chain and onto consumers or taking a hit on margins. 

In an already competitive market, this, as you would imagine, has had a significant impact on the industry especially due to the fact that the various global contributing factors are completely out of our control.

How to Reduce Energy Consumption

Keeping fingers crossed for a milder Winter and an extended Summer is most definitely not a long-term strategy. Energy consumption is generally a large part of the process for the vast majority of those in the manufacturing industry if not all. 

Curtailing inefficient practices, such as leaving lights on in unoccupied areas and running machinery only when required, can only take us so far and are not new to the industry in general in any case. Tens of thousands of businesses and organisations are already following general guidelines and may also have energy policies in place which helps to continuously reduce energy consumption. 

Reducing the impact on the environment also tends to go hand-in-hand with improving energy performance by reducing the energy footprint working towards greener credentials. 

We also understand that it’s by no means an easy task to pin-point areas where efficiencies in energy consumption can be made. A good starting point is always measuring and benchmarking a site’s consumption, however, this alone doesn’t generally provide the relevant insights into unexploited energy potential or reducing energy use.

The impact of Energy Efficiency for Manufacturing and Cost Savings

Gaining efficiencies in the manufacturing process and cost savings have been a focus of manufacturers’ continuous improvement and lean manufacturing programmes for a while now.

Business Sense’s insights and monitoring methodology provide a thorough insight into not only operational activities, but can include monitoring of production equipment and machinery, releasing capacity where relevant and reducing wastage across various sub-industries such as food, engineering, chemicals, OEM and others. Understanding and reporting on these key efficiency indicators in real-time can positively influence the optimisation of energy management across the board. 

The combination of ‘cost factors’ and efficiency metrics into a more visual system, provides both relatable and influential key indicators to operators and management, generating real-time energy insight! Allowing the focusing of efforts on where energy efficiencies or inefficiencies are having the most impact, arming you with the data to implement transformational change..

If you would like to learn more about managing the impact of the ever-increasing cost of energy through insights, monitoring and efficiency gains, just get in touch for a FREE energy consultation TODAY!