Is your production line wasting energy?

France is lagging behind its European competitors in the development of Industry 4.0. The reason is simple: the French industrial apparatus is aging. However, buying new machines or building an industrial building is expensive, and SMEs cannot always make such investments, or long-established companies sometimes have trouble changing their habits.

There is no efficient industry however without an efficient production line. This performance involves reducing energy waste such as water use, building heating, and recycling of raw materials.

Discover in this article what problems energy wastes can cause to a supply chain, and their consequences on your business:

1. Excessive water consumption increases your costs and risks of production stoppages
2. Financial and human issues related to thermal insulation
3. The lack of technological maturity delays the use of renewable energies
4. The waste of raw materials: a constraint on your company's profitability

1 - Excessive water consumption increases your costs and risks of production stoppages

Water is at the heart of many industrial processes, as a thermal fluid or raw material. Minor drought or water restriction can cripple your industrial processes. It is therefore a crucial issue for your production rate and your profitability.

The causes of water wastage in your production line can be multiple:

• Water leaks due to poor maintenance of the pipes
• Discharge of water after minimal use (rinsing, cooling, etc.)
• Contamination of water after use, which prevents its reuse

In France, industry accounts for 60% of water withdrawn at the national level and 26% of consumption (around 20 billion mm3 of water per year) [1]. However, 50% of the water loss could be prevented.

Taking into account the costs of energy, treatments, maintenance, consumables, etc., the cost of water for your company is on average 5 to 10 times higher than its cost on the meter [2] (around €15 per m3 of water).

On a company-wide basis, a simple dripping faucet or a water leak can be very expensive:

Apart from the financial consequences, poor water treatment can also be a source of risk for the employees and the environment. 43% of accidents at water production and waste treatment facilities have an impact on the environment (Ministry of Ecological and Sustainable Transition) [3].

Many standards regulate the use and discharge of industrial wastewater. Law 2006-1772 on water and aquatic environments specifies that it is up to the municipalities to verify and ensure the non-collective sanitation of water. Consult the local authorities to find out the normative and financial terms and conditions for connecting your plant to the national grid.

2 - Financial and human issues related to thermal insulation

The heating of industrial buildings can be quite technical. Depending on the production stage, you may need special conditions inside your production or storage facilities, such as a refrigeration or temperature maintenance system. To increase the temperature of a room by 1°C, it is necessary to consume about 7% more energy [4].

Increasing heating or refrigeration means an increase your energy needs. However, the majority of the energy used by the industry are fossil fuels (petroleum products, natural gas, and coal), and it is on these energy products that the carbon tax is levied: TICPE (Internal Consumer Tax on Products), TIGCN which deals with natural gas, and TICC (Internal Consumption Tax on coal). Insufficient insulation of your buildings therefore entails a double penalty: a bigger energy bill and additional taxes.

In addition, improper installation or maintenance can cause enormous variations in the temperature or humidity of a room, which can lead to:

• Premature degradation of your buildings and industrial equipment (the condensation of water in the insulation can cause molds, cracks, degradation of materials, etc.)
• Risks to your employees (exposure to extreme temperatures, pollution of air quality)

3 - The lack of technological maturity delays the use of renewable energies 

The carbon footprint of French industry is high. In 2016, only 6% of the energy used in the industry came from renewable energies [5].

Industries are more likely to deploy technologies to use renewable energies if they give them greater competitiveness. According to the 2018 Ademe report:

• Energy recovery technologies are more competitive because they make it possible to value the waste heat of companies, which can lead to the establishment of support mechanisms such as Energy Saving Certificates and the Heat Fund
• Except for a subsidy, renewable energies are globally less competitive than traditional solutions (following low prices on natural gas)

The integration of new technologies or the use of renewable energies often involves the deployment of new distribution networks or the installation of dedicated storage areas. In fact, the installation of renewable energy assets implies a modification of the energy system, including process modifications and buffer stocks adjustment:

• Biomass is often used with an auxiliary solution because its inert state does not necessarily allow it to meet all the needs of the company
• Having biogas stocks available quickly requires large volumes of storage
• The availability of natural resources and/or the gap between its production and its use will require the installation of appropriate storage capacity (energy from solar panels, wind turbines, etc.).

These changes can be very costly for a company and require adequate know-how and technological maturity. The challenge lies in the construction of an energy system where the forces of technologies and energies are balanced.

4 - The waste of raw materials: a constraint on your company's profitability

In 2015, 84.4% of the resources used to make the global economy work came from natural resources (Circularity Gap Report). Of these raw materials, 21.5 billion tonnes of raw materials were stored for the long term by the companies and 51.9 tonnes were converted into products with a limited lifetime. Only 43% of the resources extracted are recycled and reinjected into the economy.

However, in a world where the quantity of available resources is decreasing, it is necessary to set up production and consumption alternatives. It is the emergence of new models such as the economy of functionality (we no longer sell the good, but the right to use it) or the circular economy (the industry waste is recycled to become a raw material again).

Some of the reasons for the lack of recycling can be attributed to poor management of the production chain:

• Overpackaging of components or packaging of non-recyclables
• Insufficient control of the quantities required at each stage of production
• Failure to recover from spills and wastes
• Misconception of components and wasted materials

Recycling certainly requires additional effort (prevention and training, management, transport, specific equipment, etc.). But conversely, using too many "new" raw materials can be harmful, especially with regard to dependence on suppliers: if component prices rise, you must postpone this increase on your selling price or reduce your margins, so risk losing in price-competitiveness.

A lever to reduce the quantities of raw materials and optimise manufacturing is to better organise the production chain:

• Training of employees in good practices
• Investment in better machines that generate fewer losses
• Calibration of existing machines to reduce losses
• Removal of unnecessary manufacturing steps
• Establishment of a system for the recovery and recycling of reusable waste

The different forms of energy waste affect the overall profitability of your business. But there are other sources of waste that affect the performance of industrial enterprises. We have listed these in this ebook, and propose to you specific ways to limit them.

[1] Council of Ministers: Communication on water management - Wednesday 9 August 2017

[2]How the industry can reduce its "water footprint" - Les Echos

[3] Ministry of ecological and solidarity transition - Observatory and statistics - Industrial accidents

[4] Thermal insulation of buildings: Principles - Picbleu

[5] Integration of Renewable Energy and Recovery in Industry - ENEA Consulting for ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency)