The Henry Ford parable – a lesson for the manufacturing sector

The American industrialist Henry Ford once said that, “If you need a machine and don't buy it, then you will ultimately find that you have paid for it, but don't have it”. I believe that a century later, his assertion is more pertinent than ever for UK manufacturing.

In the context of the economic downturn and subsequent cuts it seems that manufacturers are reluctant to invest in improving their machinery. However, as time passes, inefficient industrial machines consume more and more costly energy and begin eating away at budgets. A solution for this problem is the installation of a variable speed drive (VSD).

VSDs can reduce the energy bill on many applications or motor driven systems by more than their own capital cost in a relatively short period, often less than a year. As energy prices continue to soar, the return on investment on a VSD application increases in proportion to the bill.

Henry Ford’s assertion should serve as a guiding rule for organisations in the manufacturing sector looking to send real savings straight to the bottom line. Failing to buy energy saving equipment, such as VSDs, as part of a system that incorporates an electric motor will cost money in the long term. And it will cost far more money than simply paying for the VSD in the first instance.

GAMBICA launches VSD energy savings calculator

~ Easy to use calculator predicts return on investment ~

The VSD savings calculator

GAMBICA has launched a simple calculator that estimates the energy savings that installing a variable speed drive (VSD) on a relevant application can achieve. GAMBICA, the national organisation that represents the interests of the instrumentation, control, automation and laboratory technology industries in the UK, launched the product on behalf of the members of its variable speed drives group.

The free calculator allows potential buyers to make an informed decision before purchasing a VSD for their application. It comes in the form of an easy to use Microsoft Excel file and is available to download from GAMBICA’s website.

The new VSD energy saving calculator is intended as a first-pass indication tool to help decide if a VSD will bring energy savings to the application. The calculator can also help estimate what payback period can be expected, making it clearer that a VSD represents a guaranteed investment that will reduce energy bills by more than its cost.

Electric motors consume significant amounts of electricity; estimated to be about two-thirds of all industrial energy use. Even a simple electric motor, costing a few hundred pounds, can be expected to consume many tens of thousands of pounds worth of electricity over its useful lifetime. Variable Speed Drives can help to make significant energy savings by controlling the motor speed, particularly in pump and fan applications.

“Energy saving is currently a high priority on the British and EU agendas and VSDs are gradually being recognised as one of the most important tools for cutting energy costs,” explained Steve Brambley, deputy director of GAMBICA. “We hope this new tool will encourage non technical people, particularly in purchasing departments, to embrace the technology,” concluded Brambley.

The energy saving calculator can be downloaded for free from the GAMBICA website at http://www.gambica.org.uk/vsdcalculator.