Tanongsak Buachai | Facilities Manager, NXP Bangkok, Thailand
Our manufacturing facility in Bangkok has made saving energy one of its highest priorities, and has already produced significant results - achieving a 7% relative reduction in energy use compared to the base year of 2006.
Tanongsak Buachai, facilities manager for the site, says, “We have continuously looked for opportunities to reduce energy consumption and improve energy efficiency throughout our systems.”
In 2007, the facility implemented 17 energy-related projects and saved a total of more than 1 million hours (kWh). Cross-functional cooperation was an important part of their success, and, in some cases, outside experts were brought in to evaluate conditions and suggest ways to save even more. In each case, any changes to the manufacturing environment were studied closely before they were put in place, and were then monitored carefully to avoid any impact on production quality or capacity.
In one project, they raised the minimum relative humidity (RH) requirement and raised the temperature of chilled water by 1 °C. In combination, these changes saved 405 thousand kWh a year. In another project, they raised the temperature set point of certain production processes by 1 °C and saved 360 thousand kWh a year. They reduced air-conditioning leaks by sealing off or closing certain doors, ceilings, and walls, for a savings of 139 thousand kWh a year. Also, by replacing a reverse-osmosis pump with a newer model that had 30% better efficiency ratings, they saved 30 thousand kWh a year.
In 2008, the energy-saving efforts will be managed by the Facility Savings Team, a new group that brings together people from every part of the business. The team assigns project champions, meets weekly to track progress, and makes regular reports to management. As much as 60 to 70% of the facility‘s overall savings are expected to come from roughly 20 energy-saving programs. From Tanongsak‘s point of view, the new team‘s work is vital and enables “real, sustainable energy savings, not just this year but in the long run.”