Representative End User Clients
Representative Automation Clients
Representative Software Clients
Keywords: Energy Management, Energy Prices, Energy Consumption, Process Automation
At the ACHEMA 2015 trade show the organisations NAMUR, ARC Advisory Group and ZVEI will host their joint forum "Automation in Dialogue". On all five exhibition days a range of talks will cover the major themes of automation technology in the process industry in a variety of different formats.
Energy management in the process industries
For the process industries, energy management might only be a second priority target behind plant availability, throughput, safety, and some other criteria. Especially now, as oil and other energy prices are low, the economic pressure to optimize energy consumption has dropped. Still, in some industries, energy prices can account for 20 to 50 percent of the variable costs, which can easily be the same amount as the earnings in a given year. As energy is a very volatile cost factor, energy management represents an important measure to increase and stabilize earnings.
The first challenge is to break through the vicious circle of unknown energy consumption and the therefore unknown RoI of any energy management measurement. Also, setting targets is an important and challenging task, especially for first-time implementations. For the chemical industry, ARC Advisory Group recommends to use a share of 15 to 20 percent for energy as share of variable cost without labor and to target around 10 percent of annual savings. Especially in times of lower energy prices, companies should consider investing current savings into process efficiency to secure future cost savings, when energy prices rise again.
In addition to high-profile panel discussions, visitors can acquire up-to-date information on selected topics in "Meet the Experts" and then join the experts for an informal discussion in the foyer afterwards. The spotlight will not only be on hot topics, such as Modular Automation, IT Security, and Energy and Resource Efficiency, but also on the latest developments in Industry 4.0 and IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things). Additionally, the more traditional topics like Asset Information Management, Explosion Protection and Functional Safety will be addressed.
"Automation in Dialogue" will take place daily in the foyer of the ACHEMA Automation World from 15th to 19th of June 2015 in Hall 11, Level 1, Foyer Northwest.