Customer: AGS
Location: Sutton, MA
Facility Size: 190,000 ft2 (17,652 m2) expansion to 230,000 ft2 (21,368 m2) facility
Environment: Packaging, Manufacturing
Installation: New Construction
Solution: Digital Lumens Intelligent Lighting System, with LightRules® Power
Savings: 75% energy
Productivity Gain: 20%
Opportunity
LightRules Power from Digital Lumens enables users to extend the real-time energy monitoring capabilities of LightRules beyond the lighting system to virtually all of the equipment and in the facility.
Committed to operational excellence, Frank Tavares, Global Process Engineer Manager at AGS, selected the LightRules Power upgrade as part of a facility expansion to the company’s Sutton, Massachusetts world headquarters.
Immediate Benefits
Based on insights developed using LightRules Power, Tavares modified production schedules and optimized usage of existing equipment, thereby eliminating bottlenecks, increasing line productivity by 20%, and avoiding purchase of a $250,000 piece of CNC equipment, all while ensuring worker engagement and safety.
Additionally, detailed data from LightRules Power, at the sub-meter level, provided the breakdown of electricity usage that Tavares needed for accurate cost allocation and equipment utilization reporting, both of which had not been possible prior to the deployment.
A Customer Success Story
AGS had faced bottlenecks on their production line, and line workers were requesting purchase of an additional piece of expensive capital equipment, a new CNC Router, to solve the issue. Because the bottlenecks were sporadic and information about the loss in productivity was anecdotal, Tavares wanted to gain detailed insight into the use of existing equipment and identify actual usage trends.
The typical method to determine such trends is a manual time study, which is labor intensive and prone to error. However, Tavares recognized that energy use is a common variable that can tie together the different types of production machinery and serve as a proxy for tracking equipment use and line productivity.
Following the installation of LightRules Power, Tavares was able to accurately monitor the energy consumption and usage of capital equipment and better identify periods of inactivity throughout the facility.
Sub-Metering for Accurate Cost Allocation
Tavares’ operational goals include monitoring all energy loads within his facility and understanding energy intensity per square-foot. Without LightRules Power from Digital Lumens, it would be impossible to accurately quantify production expenses and allocate those costs among the various departments.
LightRules Power provides AGS with a Metered Power Report detailing the power consumption of every electrical load in the facility, which for one particular product line accounts for 60% of the total production cost.
Leveraging the Lighting Network Infrastructure
LightRules Power integrates with the existing Intelligent Lighting System network, providing the necessary infrastructure to address broader business challenges. The additional capabilities of LightRules Power streamline energy management by adopting the same interface used for lighting to monitor electrical loads for cost allocation and equipment utilization.
Long-Term Value
Operational Excellence — With insight from LightRules Power, Tavares can drive operational excellence without having to perform manual time studies or investigations of production issues.
Preventive Maintenance — Based on data from LightRules Power, AGS will be able to track actual equipment utilization and schedule maintenance before machinery wears out.
Single-Vendor Support & Warranty — Having selected Digital Lumens, the only single-vendor option for intelligent lighting and power monitoring, AGS will never have to worry about dealing with multiple warranties or the inevitable issues related to multiple-vendor support.
About AGS
Headquartered in Sutton, Massachusetts (USA), AGS designs and manufactures protective packaging solutions ranging from foam, air-tube, and recycled fiber inserts to corrugated carton materials and custom crating. The company operates six facilities worldwide, serving customers across multiple industries in the public and private sectors.