OMRON IIDA

OMRON has developed and supplied energy management systems for some time to visualize energy consumption. We have accumulated knowhow on various energy-saving improvements at client companies and in our own factories.
Of the many OMRON production sites, OMRON IIDA had the fourth highest energy consumption.As a manufacturer of automotive electrical parts, one of the reasons for the increase in energy consumption was the ever-increasing levels of production.In 2008, an energy-saving project was planned, with a project team that was formed by selecting personnel to promote environmental protection.
In an attempt to make up for lost time, top management placed great importance on the issue, setting the reduction target to a staggering 20%.Other production sites with accumulated achievements were unable to surpass a reduction of more than 10%, so there were many doubts at the start even from the project members themselves on whether achieving the goal would be possible.

Example Configuration
for Visualizing Energy

First, visualization equipment was installed in the power distribution room to visualize energy consumption at each distribution panel.Based on improvement examples from other locations, visualized data and areas where members had always thought there were problems were analyzed to identify the points where energy could be saved within the factory.
After that, the members took the lead in starting improvement activities for the facilities and production lines.For example, compressors, which make up 40% of total energy consumption within the factory, were checked by opening and closing air valves in over 200 locations, and the joints of the air hoses and other parts were checked and repaired one by one.

To reduce energy consumption on the production site, the key is to save energy while minimizing the impact on production activities.At OMRON IIDA, where automotive electrical parts are manufactured, there are many parts that are subject to particularly strict product quality standards. This means that many operational standards, including the temperature settings, cannot be easily changed.However, it was also apparent that the airconditioning settings were excessive in trying to adhere to the quality standards.This kind of waste was reviewed and an improvement of 7% (approximately 1.16 million kWh/year) compared with the previous year was achieved in 2008 by implementing new rules for setting the facilities and revising operating schedules.