Companies Taking Steps To Increase Efficiency

InTech (June 2009, Policastro) reports that, while governments worldwide are "mandating higher efficiency in motors," manufacturers are "taking strides to boost efficiency." There are many examples of large manufacturing companies around the world making major improvements to their equipment list, replacing less efficient motors with – albeit more costly – more energy efficient models. For instance, a company in the Netherlands with an annual sales of $8.6 billion and 200 locations worldwide found that "the benefits to buying a new motor far outweighed the price of repairing the old one, so choosing new high-efficiency motors will lead to a very significant annual reduction in running costs." Likewise, here in the United States the National Electrical Manufacturer’s Association (NEMA) has developed efficiency standards and NEMA Premium high-efficiency motors for manufacturing companies to use. Some pulp and paper, chemical, and food manufacturing plants even have dedicated staff working throughout the supply chain to make sure their motors are the most efficient they can buy and that they stay that way while running in their plants.

With all this attention on increasing efficiency, it’s hard to stop at just motors within a facility. Manufacturing companies are looking to make their customers' processes more efficient, too. In a time where every minute counts, enhancing your processes to reduce time and increase production is a much sought-after improvement. Companies like Elyria Metal Spinning of Elyria, OH are implementing products meant to shave time off their production line. “We’ve increased production by 250 percent with the FARO Gage,” EMS Plant General Manager Matthew Jackson said. “Jobs that took two or three days to finish now take less than a half day which gives us time to complete more projects.” Cole Manufacturing located in West Bend, WI also found benefits to altering their processes – “Tube inspection jobs that used to take four hours can now be completed in 45 minutes or less. In the two and half months since acquiring our FaroArm, we’ve saved 100 hours of work time,” said Quality Assurance Manager John Berst.

For more information on how to increase efficiency through your processes, visit www.faro.com.