Determine the Efficiency Frontier of a Manufacturing Factory through a Data-driven Approach

The theme of manufacturing plants energy efficiency in the last decade has assumed ever increasing importance, in the light of multiple environmental, economic, and regulatory considerations. In the literature it is possible to find many proposals for methods and models to evaluate energy consumption of operating machines and margins for improvement with respect to the state of the art or the technology theoretical limits. From a regulatory point of view, international standards such as ISO 50001 and ISO 14995 have contributed to building a shared reference framework. In industrial practice, however, the knowledge of these tools is still partial, and their implementation encounters significant organizational, technological, and economic obstacles. The most evident implication of this situation is the lack of published data relating to the actual consumption of the operating machines and the real potential for improvement that can be obtained. This paper presents a decision support tool suitable for use on an existing machine park and its application to a significant industrial case. Moreover, is discussed the impact that can be achieved by consistently applying the method.