Improving energy performance in food and drink

Food and Drink manufacturers in Ireland are facing specific challenges, and energy performance is a must.

Being able to rely on a cost-efficient and performing energy supply and management of utilities systems is essential to ensure heath risks are carefully managed, production requirements are met and brand image is promoted.

The successful partnership between Diageo and Dalkia, the utilities & energy management specialist, was recently acknowledged at the MEETA Awards 2012 by Engineers Ireland, where they won the Overall Winner of the Asset Care Excellence Award.

David Gough, Dalkia’s Energy and Utilities Operations specialist for major food and drink manufacturers, explains how having a performing energy expert on board makes all the difference.

Dalkia was invited to tender for a full Asset Care Outsource agreement for a major drink manufacturing site. Amongst the deliverables within the proposed contract was to evolve the site to a world class asset care status within the first two years of contract commencement, using the AMIS audit framework and external auditor MCP.

This presented many challenges in relation to change management and implementation of processes and procedures utilising a core team that had been transferred to Dalkia under the TUPE regulations as part of the agreement.

The main challenges involved the development of relationships in order to overcome the contractor/client relationship and establish a true partnering arrangement that would be mutually beneficial and establish a fully engaged ‘team’ with common objectives.

Implementation

Dalkia worked heavily in conjunction with the customer’s management team to clearly define roles and responsibilities of all site resources, at the same time clearly communicating the overall objective and highlighting the benefits to all stakeholders.

A strategy was implemented to move the site from Reactive to Proactive Asset Care. This was achieved by engaging all stakeholders, utilising SAP, improved planning, reducing breakdowns through RCA and implementing operator asset care. The main challenges included reduced staffing numbers, increased running hours, budget cuts, contractor client relationship and a lack of understanding of the scope of full asset care. Progress was tracked and driven through regular external audits and weekly plan reviews.

Results

The site has had zero lost time accidents and breaches of environmental regulations in the last two years. There has been a 20 per cent increase in the tonnage roasted and an 11 per cent increase in the volume of drinks racked. The quality measure has increased by over 12 per cent and the waste figures have been reduced by 3 per cent. The benefits of the journey to world class asset care are reflected in these figures.

The site was awarded world class accreditation in September 2012, the fastest self-delivered journey, placing it in the top 5 per cent of 4,500 companies surveyed worldwide.

Dalkia continues to work with the site to deliver best practice in asset care and drive energy efficiency cost reduction via a structured continuous improvement program, delivered through innovation and a proactive approach. Dalkia team objectives are aligned to the wider site team objectives to optimise assets and increase reliability.

To see how your site can benefit from Dalkia’s energy and utilities expertise, contact Tony Doherty, Dalkia General Manager Northern Ireland:

Mobile: +44 (0) 787 903 6270
Email: infoni@dalkia.co.uk
Web: www.dalkia.com

About Dalkia

A subsidiary of Veolia Environnement and Electricité de France (EDF), Dalkia, a global leader in energy services provides innovative solutions to support the sustainable growth of cities and businesses. In an era of climate change, volatile energy prices and scarce resources, Dalkia offers customers its expertise in developing, constructing and operating greener and more economical energy solutions. With almost 50,000 employees in 35 countries, Dalkia reported managed revenue of €8.9 billion in 2012.