Productivity genefits from new energy technology: A case study of a paint manufacturing company

Conference · Sun Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1997

OSTI ID:478264

Raghunathan, P; Capehart, B L

In many cases, implementing new energy efficiency technologies not only helps facilities reduce their energy costs, but it also creates greater profits by increasing productivity. These added benefits from productivity improvements can sometimes be greater than the energy cost savings, and can result in an attractive overall payback period for implementing the new technology. This paper presents a case study of productivity improvement at a paint manufacturing company as a result of implementing new energy efficiency technology. During an industrial energy assessment, it was noted that the company had experienced frequent failures of motor belts and sheaves on five paint mixers resulting in significant replacement costs and labor costs. In addition, a bigger loss was being suffered due to lost potential profit associated with the frequent work stoppages. The IAC recommendation was to install motor soft starters (also known as motor voltage controllers) on the five mixing machines. Installation of soft starters would have the following benefits: lower energy costs, lower replacement costs for transmission components, lower labor costs, and higher production levels and increased profits. The total annual benefits were estimated at $122,659, of which the benefits from increased productivity were nearly $67,000. The overall simple payback period for installing the soft starters was less than 2 months.

• OSTI ID: 478264
• Report Number(s): CONF-961173--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
ELECTRIC MOTORS
MANUFACTURERS
PAINTS
PRODUCTIVITY
RETROFITTING
TECHNOLOGY UTILIZATION