Blog

2 Tools to help manufacturing beat rising energy costs

4 minutes

Whether you’re running things on the ground floor or from up in the office, those in manufacturing know: it’s complex. From the workflows of people and machines to inventory, keeping track of production and customers, or general facilities maintenance concerns, it’s safe to say that worrying about the rising costs of energy is not something manufacturing leaders want to worry about…yet here we are.

As challenges with hiring continue to affect most industries, companies of all sizes are paying closer attention to budgets. And, with energy costs continuing to skyrocket, the manufacturing industry — with some of the highest energy consumption rates — needs to find a way to oil many machines with one salve.

If you’re looking for something to help solve additional energy expenses and hiring woes, it might be worth looking somewhere you might not traditionally consider in manufacturing — your data.

We might not be able to help lower rising energy prices. Still, we’d love to share our thoughts on how simplifying your energy management and using data to gain a better understanding of your assets can help manufacturing organizations make better decisions to combat high costs and other challenges.

1. Wield (or save) the power of a dashboard for simplified utility management

Looking to optimize your manufacturing organization’s energy usage and spending? A cloud-based energy management system can automate your utility processes and enable reduced usage to help your operations drive toward lower energy costs and a smaller carbon footprint.

Brightly Energy Manager™  and Brightly Stream™ can allow you to identify areas of waste and track emissions in one centralized dashboard. Manufacturing leaders can use the solution to lower energy bills and access tangible data on how to boost sustainability across your organization.

​​With Energy Manager, facility and energy managers alike can:​

  • Cut costs on utility bills
  • Identify areas of energy waste
  • Improve operational efficiency
  • Track energy-saving initiatives
  • Make better decisions

Brightly solutions give organizations the ability to track utility and energy usage from a single location to more easily plan energy efficiency strategies and identify opportunities for cost savings.

2. CMMS: Leverage data to decrease costs and boost efficiency

A cloud-based computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) designed with manufacturing in mind can offer your organization a command center for your operational data.

Capture and centralize vital information

If you’re worried about legacy information-holders retiring and walking out the door, now is the time to implement a CMMS to contain those valuable insights. By moving from paper systems to cloud-based tools, you can streamline workflows and document details about your assets to connect your employees to your workplace while grabbing those critical details.

Understand asset health and extend life

Those critical details we just mentioned — many have to do with assets. A big perk of utilizing a CMMS is gaining better insight into the state of your assets. With visibility into how your machines are functioning you can plan for more effective maintenance scheduling, identify where energy consumption might be higher than it should be (hello three cheers for saving on energy costs) or even spot patterns that can enable you to better utilize your people and facilities.

Optimize employee efficiency

Your employees might not be the first place you think to look when you are thinking about solutions for rising energy prices, but if you’re trying to get a handle on your expenses, improving your workforce efficiency is a huge opportunity to identify where to streamline workflows. A CMMS can help track worker productivity, spot issues and even improve retention.

Improve profitability

Not only can a CMMS help you optimize resourcing and communication, but it can also give you a boost that directly affects your bottom line. When you can identify problematic assets sooner, you can make smarter repair decisions, reduce operational waste and save money — a significant benefit when you look at the rising energy costs!

Join the Brightly side of manufacturing

Sure, a sweet dashboard or CMMS won’t decrease the price of oil or electricity, but it can help you optimize your assets and keep a closer watch on energy usage, so you spend less keeping everything running. And as a bonus, it can help you navigate a changing workforce and attract fresh talent.

At Brightly, we have decades of experience helping the manufacturing industry with some of its most significant challenges. Our expertise encompasses metal fabrication, oil and gas, food and beverage, plastics and more. We match our solutions to your unique needs — whether you need tools to manage one facility or many.

Ready to learn how to better prepare your organization for rising energy costs? Let’s connect to learn how we can help take your manufacturing operations to new heights. Talk to an expert today.

Learn more about our manufacturing solutions.