Exchange of motors paves the way for great climate advantages

Our energy consumption may be reduced, and not just in relation to the pumps that are used in production and buildings. If the most energy-intensive motors were replaced by new and energy-saving ones, it would be of great benefit to the environment – and we would save lots of money at the same time.

The experience from the Danish manufacturing company shows that it would be advantageous to replace 5,000 of the 12,000 motors that are used in the production and building processes. The replacement of the first 600 motors alone has led to a reduction in the annual energy consumption of 2.2 million kWh and a reduction in CO2 emission of 990 tons, not to mention savings of 207,000 euro. This gives a payback period for this investment of only three years.

Great potential
The positive experience gained in Denmark now forms the basis for a joint effort throughout the Group. It is estimated that 10,000 energy-guzzling motors need to be replaced, which will lead to an energy reduction of 15 million kWh per year.
According to Business PhD Peter Meulengracht Jensen of Group Environment, Health & Safety (EHS), however, this is not as easy as it sounds.

- On the one hand it is a technical challenge to identify the right size of the motors. This is something that requires an insight into the most recent motor technology as well as the production and building processes. On the other hand, it is an organisational challenge to pass on experience and results from one company to another across national borders, backgrounds and cultures, he explains.

As a result, cross-functional collaboration between Operations, Sales and Business Development has led to the preparation of a global concept in order to allow for a coordinated effort. Peter Meulengracht Jensen explains:

- We asked ourselves why only a few companies decided to exchange their motors and pumps. And we came to the conclusion that we, as a Group function, should assume the role of project managers and support the companies directly by, among other things, setting up an expert group and planning a training project.

Group EHS Manager Karen Touborg describes the roll-out of a global concept as an interesting job which not only saves energy and reduces CO2 emissions but also contributes to the business by profiling our own products.

- Here, our companies and we as a Group function can collaborate and create value. The motor and pump programme defines one new way of doing things, and we expect to be able to use the same approach with other environment initiatives and achieve similar results – for example within compressed air, lighting and water technologies, says Karen Touborg.