The Challenge
A manufacturing facility's electricity consumption rose 22% over 18 months with production remaining stable. The energy team had no way to investigate the cause — energy data existed separately from production data.
What Became Visible
Real-time correlation of production output with electricity consumption revealed that energy per unit had drifted significantly. One production line had shifted to a product specification that required 18% more electricity per unit. No one had accounted for this change in the baseline. Two other lines showed persistent 8–12% higher energy per unit than others for identical products.
What Changed
Energy per unit calculated in real-time, visible alongside OEE and throughput in the daily operations review.
How it worked: Once energy per unit became visible, the causes became obvious. The high-consumption product required process changes that hadn't been reflected in equipment settings. The two underperforming lines had drifted equipment parameters that required recalibration. Energy intensity became a daily operational metric like OEE, triggering investigation when it deviated from baseline.
Results
of monitoring
accounted for in planning
recovered −8–12% on those lines
real-time vs assumed
You cannot manage what the factory cannot see at the unit level. Monthly utility bills show totals; they show nothing about what drove the change. Energy per unit connects utility spend to production decisions.
Operational Reality
Most facilities discover energy per unit drifts 15–25% from baseline when they first measure it — not because the process changed, but because no one had measured it.