Baby Steps Toward Energy Efficiency

The quest for sustainability and cost-efficiency has reshaped the way companies approach manufacturing operations, both for the product and the actual production process. However, before looking for new ways and equipment to improve operations, Juan Ríos, Director General of Grupo Energos, recommends that companies fix whatever problems exist in their infrastructure and installations. “Measure consumption, then manage it properly and later implement further controls,” says Ríos. “This is the basis for an effective energy management strategy.”

After working with companies such as American Axle, DENSO and Lear Corporation, Grupo Energos has cultivated expertise in analyzing companies’ energy demands to develop installation and maintenance engineering focused on efficiency and energy quality. The company targets mainly Tier 1 and Tier 2 companies in the automotive industry, which currently represents 70 percent of Grupo Energos’ business. So much so, that fairs such as Foro de Proveeduría Automotriz in Leon are among the most important events for the company, according to Ríos.

“We perform energy analyses of our clients’ plants to help them solve problems in their manufacturing processes,” says Ríos. The company addresses issues in energy quality arising from deficient electrical, electronics and robotic systems that cause current variations, peaks in voltage and other failures that lead to unscheduled downtime and electronic failures. Ríos says a plant’s operation is always more expensive than its initial investment, which makes these analyses critical to minimize costs.

“Companies must realize that even though components might be similar, their energy consumption demands might be different,” explains Ríos. “They must adapt their prices to these differences and work on their processes to make them more efficient depending on the variations in energy consumption.” One of the challenges Grupo Energos has faced is the lack of knowledge among clients regarding the elements that should be considered in an energy analysis. Ríos says this sometimes leads companies to choose Grupo Energos’ competitors because of a cheaper, but incomplete offer. “These players normally do not consider all elements in the installation that must follow regulation, which in the end causes new failures or higher maintenance costs,” he says. “As a result, we decided to provide our clients with training in which we explain everything related to energy consumption, especially given the changes that have arisen since the Energy Reform.”

Thanks to the reform, implemented in 2013, the electricity market opened to new energy providers, which meant more competitive conditions for consumers. Under the new regulations, companies were also capable of generating their own power. However, companies faced the challenge of real energy tariffs after the Federal Electricity Commission was forced to eliminate its subsidies for industrial use. To help companies minimize the impact of this surge in energy prices, Grupo Energos developed consultancy services to find strategies for efficiency. “We help companies lower their fixed costs, which eventually will lead the company to participate in global production chains,” says Ríos. Lower costs mean greater cost competitiveness, which is a key requirement for players looking to expand their local supplier base.

Once companies solve all their misuse problems in energy consumption, they can start thinking about taking the next step toward energy efficiency, maybe even changing the way they source their energy. “This is the best approach because otherwise, clients establish new sourcing strategies but all that power goes down the drain,” says Ríos, who even sees an extra edge for local companies to boost their competitiveness. Because of their capacity to take decisions locally, Mexican companies can implement alternative energy projects such as cogeneration more easily. “Multinationals tend to escalate the matter to their headquarters making the process more difficult,” he says.

The company is betting that more players will find these projects attractive, allowing Grupo Energos to double its operations between 2018 and 2019. “We just opened an area dedicated to cogeneration and we are already developing some projects. Just one cogeneration contract will generate the same income as our infrastructure division in an entire year,” says Ríos.