Energy INsights program advances to next level
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Indianapolis-based Energy Systems Network is moving into the next phase of a statewide program to help small- and medium-sized manufacturers reduce their energy costs.
The not-for-profit initiative focused on the development of the advanced energy technology and transportation sectors launched the Energy INsights program a year ago to help manufacturers integrate Industry 4.0 technology to help make their operations more efficient.
The program launched with 25 companies and is now expanding to 75 more manufacturers with an updated toolkit based on early feedback.
Energy Systems Network CEO Paul Mitchell told Inside INdiana Business they found the participating businesses needed more than just installation of the technology.
“What they really were needing was some technical support and some sort of project management support from an expert—we call them integrators—but an expert, smart manufacturing vendor,” Mitchell said. “The challenge is maybe they have the hardware and the software. It gets set up. It’s working at first, and then after the installation, they they may not use it again, or they may not use it as effectively. So it was more than just providing the tools, but also the training, and the technical support to really take advantage of those tools.”
The technology is designed to not only reduce energy costs but help with other operational efficiencies, such as cloud computing and data analytics.
As a result of the feedback from the first participating companies, ESN decided to revamp the program by bringing on several integration partners from industry, academia and the not-for-profit sector.
“These are companies that are in working in Indiana, connecting with manufacturers of all sizes, providing them with technical support and project management support and essentially consulting services around smart manufacturing,” said Mitchell. “And our new offering includes a certain number of hours that the service providers or these companies will provide to, to the small and medium-sized manufacturers as part of the overall package as well as some customized training tools that the companies can access.”
Mitchell said the initial phase of the Energy INsights program was “wildly successful.” One of the facilities that participated was the Emerging Manufacturing Collaboration Center, or EMC2, in Indianapolis, which has seen a 15% reduction in energy consumption.
“All companies that have been able to fully implement it and continuously utilize it have seen some meaningful cost savings,” he said. “I think those other companies who may be participated, had an installation, but weren’t able to sort of fully integrate those software and hardware tools, we are now going back to them. So our expectation is that the original 25, plus the additional 75 that we’re adding in to the program will all be seeing savings by the end of the year.”
The program was created using $5 million in funding from the Indiana Economic Development Corp. with the goal of assisting 100 small to medium-sized manufacturers.
Mitchell said they are confident that the project will provide demonstrable results that could lead to growth even without state grant support.
“If we can prove that the ROI is there, and the value is there, then companies will begin to become smart buyers of this technology on their own, and we’ll see it penetrate every small to medium-sized manufacturer across the state,” he said.
Mitchell noted the importance of the program being statewide, which will continue with the 75 new companies participating.
“We think it’s really important that this is being deployed in the manufacturing hubs that you have around Fort Wayne and northwest Indiana and South Bend and Evansville and Jeffersonville and Columbus and everywhere in between, as well as more rural communities,” he said. “We realize that we only have, 75 slots to fill and probably will reach many more than that. But if even if you can’t enroll in the program in this current phase, our expectation is there’ll be other offerings going forward.”
Indiana manufacturers interested in participating in the Energy INsights program can find more information by clicking here. ESN says eligible companies will be enrolled on a first come, first served basis.