1. Energy management system support at EMC
At Dell EMC, Energy Analytics provide ongoing support to the extremely active energy team from a management system perspective. Energy Analytics engineers take responsibility for the planning and operation of a ‘Gemba’ based energy team meeting structure whereby energy team members meet on a monthly basis at the locations where significant energy users are based within the facility.
A web based software tool is utilised on screens throughout the site to capture events during these meetings. Each area owner takes control of the tool during each meeting thus ensuring ownership is dispersed throughout the facilities key energy consumers. Energy analytics engineers work with each area owner prior to each meeting to ensure they are prepared as regards their meeting content and future work post meeting. They also assist area owners to identify, quantify and verify energy savings where required.
Energy analytics engineers also manage the internal audit programme for the Dell EMC energy team. The energy analytics team have in the past two years streamlined this process such that it has been noted as an exemplary area during external certification audits.
2. ISO 50001 Maturity Assessment at EMC
EMC operates an ISO 50001 compliant Energy Management System (EnMS) at its Ireland Centre of Excellence in Cork. The EnMS is designed to encourage continual improvement in energy efficiency, however, it is common for a system to become static after many years of operation. Energy Analytics sought to reinvigorate the EnMS in order to reap rewards in terms of increased and sustained energy savings.
Energy Analytics carried out an assessment of the level of maturity of the EnMS so as to establish a benchmark for improvement and identify elements of the system that required particular attention. Using a model developed by Energy Analytics, the maturity assessment found that all the pillars of the EnMS were ISO 50001 compliant, but there was also significant scope for improvement in order to make the EnMS more dynamic and effective.
The maturity assessment model was used to construct a roadmap towards improved future state of operations. Target maturity levels were set for each pillar of the EnMS and corresponding action plans were created. All target maturity levels were met at the end of this process by completing the action items specified in the roadmap, with Energy Analytics carrying out the improvement works where feasible. This included developing a new internal audit template and integrating it into local software, overhauling the energy management automated reports, developing an A3 energy review and waterfall diagrams for improved communication.
The maturity assessment was reviewed at the end of this process to confirm and validate that target levels of maturity were achieved. For future work, the roadmap created can be used to achieve improvements in other areas of the system and move beyond the previous manual, localised and people dependent system to a semi-automated, integrated and disseminated system driven by commitment and vision.
3. Special Investigation into the Operation of Test Areas at EMC
A special investigation into the operation of the EMC test areas was carried out with a particular focus on the information technology (IT) loading of these areas. A DMAIC (define, measure, analyse, improve and control) methodology was employed by Energy Analytics engineers to conduct the special investigation in an efficient and repeatable manner across all areas.
Through a blended approach of meeting with subject matter experts, performing walkthroughs of each area and reviewing supporting data and associated documentation, the current state of operations in each area was documented and distilled into a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for each Significant Energy User (SEU) under investigation. This process also resulted in potential energy saving opportunities being identified.
A data availability assessment was carried out by conducting an in-depth review of the software systems utilised by each area owner to operate their respective area, as well as a quality assessment of this data. An analysis was then performed to develop Energy Performance Indicators (EnPIs) that could more accurately report on the area’s activity than had previously been possible using Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE).
The process data for one of the SEUs was used to analyse the steps in the testing process in which most failures occur, as well as the actions taken from operational staff upon failure. This was done with a view to finding the most energy efficient solution to each failure and potentially create a step-by-step procedure for the operator to follow, thus removing a significant variable in the testing process in the form of the operators’ differing approaches to problems.
Further potential EnPIs were identified, such as a potential space utilisation metric for efficient space allocation, along with other energy saving opportunities for each of the SEUs to be included in the EnMS opportunities register.