The term "sustainability" all too often turns into mere lip service. This is not the case at Wellspect. The company, a leading global manufacturer of solutions for medical continence care, has integrated sustainability in its corporate strategy and is committed to implementing it. It's no wonder that the company relies on Festo Energy Saving Services at its plant in Mölndal near Gothenburg, Sweden, which save Wellspect €37,000 a year in energy costs.
These energy savings correspond to 24 tonnes fewer CO2 emissions per year. A pleasant side effect of the lower energy consumption is that machine availability on one of the catheter packaging lines has increased by 10% thanks to reduced component wear.
Compressed air energy efficiency audit
"Bo Lilja, energy efficiency expert from Festo Sweden, used theFesto compressed air energy efficiency audit to identify weak points in our plant and which measures were most likely to pay off in our compressed air system", explains Erik Blomholt, Maintenance Manager at Wellspect. Energy expert Lilja made the measures available to Wellspect's maintenance team online at Festo Energy Saving Services Portal. "This allowed us to monitor the elimination of defects such as leakages in a simple and structured way", says Blomholt. Last but not least, this also helped to quantify energy losses and CO2 emissions.
The compressed air energy efficiency audit consists of five steps. In the first three steps, energy efficiency expert Bo Lilja analysed the compressed air generation, compressed air preparation and compressed air distribution of the entire system. He then turned his attention to the pneumatic applications, i.e. the machines and systems themselves. In the process, he analysed the energy efficiency of these machines and systems and detected leakages.
"I checked whether drives, valves and tubing are optimally sized, whether blowing and vacuum applications are efficiently designed and whether installation and control concepts should be optimised", explains Lilja.
In the fifth and final step, the specialist developed a concept for a compressed air monitoring system that can be used to continuously monitor the energy states.
综合分析
分析结束时，Wellspect 收到了一份详细的报告，其中包含精确的数据记录和优先事项建议。数据记录主要披露能源消耗和成本、能源储备和二氧化碳排放值，也就是 Wellspect 需要根据 GRI（全球报告倡议）或 GHG（温室气体）等标准，在自己的可持续发展报告中披露的信息。
进行能源效率评审，是 Wellspect 公司可持续发展战略的一部分。公司主要关注以下三个问题：通过排泄管理解决方案让更多人过上充实、独立和自信的生活，从而为人类造福；创造安全、有吸引力和充满活力的工作场所；减少碳足迹。
对实现可持续发展目标的贡献
Wellspect 计划到 2045 年实现碳中和。目前，该公司的生产设施已完全使用可再生能源供电。Festo 节能服务需要帮助他们进一步节能。在此背景下，我们对其 3 条生产线进行了改造，现在每年可节省 37,000 欧元的能源和设备成本。除此之外，我们还确定了另外两条生产线的改进方案。“我们的目标是优化所有生产设施的能源使用情况。因此我们将逐步把能源效率评审的范围扩大到所有的工厂，"首席维护工程师 Blomholt 说道。
通过这种方式，就有可能持续降低生产每根导液管的年度耗电量。Wellspect 希望到 2025 年，使每根导液管的生产能耗比 2020 年低 12 %。由于我们每周会生产大量导液管，最终的降低成本效果是显著的。
通过人工智能和机器学习预测能源
为了持续监测机器或设备的能源效率，并确保在消耗值与设定值出现偏差时能够进行纠正，Wellspect 公司选用了 Festo Automation Experience（简称 Festo AX）来提高能源效率。Festo AX 使用便捷，能够帮助用户借助人工智能 (AI) 和机器学习，从机器和设备数据中获得高附加值。
Festo AX Predictive Energy 功能可记录生产线能耗变化轨迹，并持续与实际状态进行对比。由于该解决方案使用了机器学习和人工智能，因此可以自动检测泄漏。而且无需事先描述和了解所有可能的故障原因。通过及早对故障造成的泄漏作出反应，可以直接降低生产成本，也让此解决方案能够迅速实现投资回报。
Wellspect 公司总部位于瑞典哥德堡附近的 Mölndal，聘有 1,000 多名员工，业务遍及 18 个国家/地区。该公司隶属于全球最大的专业牙科解决方案制造商 Dentsply Sirona， 致力于开发和生产针对膀胱或肠道功能障碍患者的解决方案。产品目标用户包括脊髓损伤、多发性硬化症、脊柱裂或前列腺肥大患者。公司最著名的产品是用于导尿的 Lofric 和用于肠道冲洗的 Navina。除了高质量的产品解决方案，公司还可为患者和医护人员提供全面的培训课程。