INDUSTRY WATCH
ECOSTRUXURE PROVIDES AUTOMATED DATA ANALYTICS OF ONGOING OPERATIONS THAT FLAGS TECHNICAL FAULTS OF ALL SIZES TO OUR ENGINEERS . reliability of all the electrical systems is a particularly involved task .
In 2013 , Nestlé invested approximately US $ 125 million to expand this plant , increasing production by 40 % and making it the largest soluble coffee facility in the world . At this scale , even modest gains to energy efficiency and service improvements translate to sizable cost savings .
Improving the reliability of the facility ’ s electrical equipment would deliver the productivity , efficiency and maintenance benefits Nestlé sought .
In 2017 , engineers from Nestlé Nescafé and Schneider Electric began a pilot project to evaluate the plant ’ s Digital Transformation using EcoStruxure . This decision to enlist Schneider ’ s expertise was a natural one , as EcoStruxure solutions are already in place at the food and beverage conglomerate ’ s production facilities in France and Switzerland .
From pilot to plant
Implementing Asset Advisor gave Nestlé real-time visibility into its electrical equipment , allowing engineers to remotely monitor assets . Prior to Asset Advisor , maintenance was reactive – Nestlé hired specialized service providers as needed . Today , through EcoStruxure , Nestlé has moved to predictive maintenance ; connected services anticipate potential failure , which allows teams to resolve issues proactively to avoid downtime .
Service continuity is central to Nestlé ’ s production goal , but other variables influence the factory ’ s profitability , like maintenance and the total cost of ownership . To reduce maintenance costs , engineers need to identify the stressed areas in the electrical infrastructure to concentrate service efforts , thereby minimizing the amount of time technicians spend performing preventive maintenance across all assets .
“ EcoStruxure Asset Advisor allows us to identify hot spots and attack them before they become a problem ,” said Páez .
During this pilot phase , EcoStruxure Asset Advisor was implemented in certain sections of the factory to demonstrate the difference between connected and non-connected assets . Three transformers were fitted with PowerLogic Tag Series TH110 wireless temperature sensors , allowing them to communicate with the Asset Advisor service .
What took the project from a trial to full implementation was a single disruption in April 2020 : a short circuit inside an unmonitored section of the main substation resulted in a 14-hour shutdown , costing Nestlé approximately US $ 588,000 . Because this section wasn ’ t connected , engineers weren ’ t alerted that equipment was at risk . This was the catalyst in Nestlé ’ s decision to utilize Asset Advisor throughout its Nescafé plant .
By relying on data analytics to dictate service intervals , the electrical teams at Nestlé Nescafé spend less time reacting to issues and the plant ’ s equipment spends more time performing optimally – helping Nestlé achieve its annual target of generating US $ 238 million in factory production . Páez elaborates : “ In addition to avoiding unscheduled stoppages , EcoStruxure Asset Advisor allows us to go from annual to biannual maintenance , which is reflected in the productivity of the plant .”
In the first three years of EcoStruxure ’ s implementation , Schneider ’ s Connected Services Hub sent a dozen alerts to Nestlé about potential or imminent equipment issues . Because of these alerts , engineers were able to react and avoid three unplanned stoppages – disruptions that could cost US $ 52,000 per hour .
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