Renault Manufacturing Data Management Improves Energy, Operations Efficiency

(Credit: Renault)

A manufacturing data management system that collects information from equipment to improve energy efficiency and overall operations is being launched by Renault Group and Atos.

The platform, called ID@scale and meaning “industrial data at scale,” will capture data from a range of manufacturing processes. The system will help manufacturers optimize their production processes with information that measures the effectiveness of operations and makes updates and corrections immediately.

With that information, manufacturers can target energy consumption and monitor how much and where it is used, and make it more efficient on production lines. Renault says it can overall be used with net-zero targets and sustainability goals as the information can track progress in those areas as well.

The data is put together with analytical devices and other tools to make the information easy to use and implement. When the information is processed it is stored in the cloud.

The manufacturing industry has been working to cut its energy use for years, and Energy Information Administration data shows consumption dropped by 26% from 1998 through 2018. In a manufacturing energy consumption survey last year, 61% of companies said energy management was becoming a high priority.

Tools such as data management systems are also helping manufacturing focus more on making sustainable improvements. Eventually, those efforts could push manufacturing almost completely to automation, and a report by Ericsson IndustryLab estimates that 80% of the industry could be automated within a decade.

Renault developed the system and has deployed it at its facilities. The company says the system is part of its transition to a digital process. The information from the system can be tailored to a variety of manufacturing processes, including engineering and logistics.

The car manufacturer has deployed the system at 22 of its plants, connecting 7,500 pieces of equipment and with data models representing more than 50 manufacturing processes. Some of those processes include the production of electric motors and batteries.

Renault says the data management system is currently saving it more than $83 million a year with improved efficiencies. The company expects to expand its use to 35 facilities and 22,000 pieces of equipment by 2023 with savings to increase to more than $200 million a year.

Digital information company Atos will commercialize the platform, which the companies say has the potential to be deployed worldwide. The data management system will also use Atos’ cloud service that will help with real-time analysis of large amounts of industrial information and artificial intelligence models.

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