Gambica will this November deliver a white paper based on the comparison between investing money in efficient systems to reap financial gain and saving capital by not investing but accepting higher energy bills.
Gambica is the national organisation representing the interests of companies in the instrumentation, control, automation and laboratory technology industry in the UK. The diverse nature of the industry is reflected in the five industry sectors represented by the Association: industrial automation, process control and instrumentation, environmental systems, test and measurement and laboratory technology.
Gambica deputy director Steve Brambley, will show how the lifetime cost of efficient equipment is lower due to the high proportion of energy costs in motor driven systems, and will explain 97% of the lifetime costs of a motor come from the energy it consumes and energy efficient systems can deliver significant, often double digit, savings. He will also compare two example lifetime costs, the first with investment in motor control, the second without it.
“Running old or inefficient equipment is a false economy,” explains Brambley. “The real barrier to investment is the understanding of the lifetime cost of a system at a corporate and financial level. In contrast, I think engineers readily accept the benefits of motor control.”
The paper will be launched at the Motor Driven Systems conference on November 8 at St. John’s Hotel, Solihull. The event, which is supported by companies from the pump, compressed air, motors, drives, controls and fan industries, aims to bring together the varied strands of legislation, standardisation, system strategies and technological developments affecting motor driven systems.
In the context of the economic downturn and subsequent cuts, manufacturers are reluctant to invest in improving their systems. However, as time passes, inefficient industrial machines consume more and more expensive energy and begin eating away at profits. One solution to this problem is the installation of a variable speed drive (VSD) or alternative fixed speed form of motor control, as Gambica’s white paper will illustrate.
Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford once said, “If you need a machine and don’t buy it, then you will ultimately find that you have paid for it, but don’t have it”. As Steve Brambley says, a century later his assertion is more pertinent than ever for UK manufacturing.
