The challenge: monitor all consumption, all the time, in real time
“The sensors in the plant send their data to the cloud 24/7,” says Sébastien. “That’s a colossal volume of data. Then, to cluster, process, analyse and manage that data, we really needed a tool to replace the one that we had to stop using on 1 August – and needed it fast. We developed Ecogy in-house, around our exact requirements,” he remembers.
Renault Group’s teams got to work, pooled their expertise, and built the Ecogy portal in less than six months. It is a single gateway to track everything a plant consumes: electricity, air, water, gas, etc. It went live on 1 August 2022, crowning a remarkable display of teamwork!
Ecogy is effective, easy to use and everything else it needed to be. More than 350 users are now managing and analysing the data that the sensors collect. The 33 energy leads (like Sébastien) meet once a week to share best practices, talk about their specific goals, circulate the custom dashboards they have created (2,000 and counting) and share advice.
“Ecogy supplies so much more than raw data! You can use it to generate your own dashboards using whatever parameters you want, set overconsumption alerts, cross-reference consumption and other factors like the weather, compare consumption in various similar facilities, etc.,” Sébastien enthuses.
“We are using Ecogy to supervise all our plants, and spot any deviations or anomalies. When we do, we look into them to find the cause and take one or more corrective measures as soon as possible,” a proud Sébastien adds.
As shrinking carbon footprints and saving energy go hand in hand, the platform retrieves data from energy suppliers too. “Sharing information like this helps everyone – for example it keeps everyone in the loop if the gas network is under pressure,” Sébastien continues.
The results: energy-saving measures are already being taken
“The Ecogy portal zeroed in on many opportunities to optimise energy use at industrial facilities. And it soon started measuring the improvements too,” Xavier beams.
At Batilly, which makes Master LCVs, sensors now regulate the warm-air curtains by the fast-action roll-up doors connecting the building to the outside. This system has cut heat loss by 80% and is saving the equivalent of €80,000 a year.
At Sandouville, which makes Trafic vans, speed variators were fitted onto the electric motors that drive the welding units. Simply by adapting the pace of the process, these devices reduced consumption by 7%.
At Cléon (engines and transmissions), sensors helped to spot abnormal air conditioning settings in one piece of machinery. Resetting the system back to normal swiftly put an end to the energy overconsumption it caused.