Integrating Energy Management and Lean Manufacturing

There is a close relationship between energy efficiency and lean manufacturing. Lean focuses on the continuous elimination of non-value added activities and waste in a manufacturing process. Energy management focuses on the continuous elimination of wasted energy in a manufacturing process. This paper will focus on industrial facilities that participated in a Power Smart Lean initiative with Manitoba Hydro. The objective of this service is to leverage lean principles by capitalizing on the synergies between lean manufacturing and energy management to increase the incorporation of energy efficiency into a manufacturing plant. Case studies are presented showing the resulting electric and gas saving opportunities from identifying and reducing wasted energy. Examples are presented to show the incidental energy savings realized by facilities that have used lean to improve productivity. Finally, case studies are discussed which demonstrate the utilization of lean approaches and tools with parallels to energy management