- By acting on data gathered from 10 connected motors, the Swedish flooring manufacturer is saving 800 MWh per year, equivalent to charging 68 million smartphones in a year
- Maintenance team used the insights gathered from the ABB Ability™ Digital Powertrain Energy Appraisal solution to upgrade to 10 IE5 SynRM motors, improving efficiency to 95%
- ROI of under 18 months at current energy prices has prompted the manufacturer to extend the scope of the service in 2023
Credit: Definition Group
Tarkett’s vinyl flooring factory in Ronneby, Sweden, is using ABB data insights and service expertise to save 800 megawatt-hours (MWh) of energy per year from their motor-driven systems. This is around 1 percent of the site’s total energy consumption in a year and is equivalent to the energy needed to charge 68 million smartphones for the same amount of time. With the data gathered through the ABB Ability™ Digital Powertrain Energy Appraisal solution, ABB identified that upgrading 10 motors to IE5 SynRM technology would boost efficiency from 80 to 95 percent. With the current energy prices, the payback period would be only 18 months or less.
The service is underpinning Tarkett’s wider strategy to deploy innovative technology and act sustainably in its operations. “The biggest lesson for us is that we’ve been maintaining motors that we should have exchanged years ago. We are really impressed by the savings obtained by just upgrading 10 of our motors to more efficient ones,” says Ted Evaldsson, Tarkett’s Supervisor Electrical Maintenance.
Having seen the positive results, Tarkett is now planning to further connect additional motors with ABB digital services to yield greater energy savings at Ronneby in 2023 with the help of the digital energy audit. By extending the coverage of monitored assets, Tarkett will be better positioned to constantly identify and prioritize energy-saving opportunities at a larger scale, while also saving considerably in CO2 emissions.