Industrials in the country of chocolate and watches are seeking new technology solutions in order to make their production more environmentally friendly and efficient. During the Energy Class Factory in Lausanne, METRON learned that their motivations include corporate social responsibility strategies and the necessity to comply with Swiss regulations.
In line with global trends, Swiss energy regulators (both at federal and cantonal levels) are encouraging companies to consume less and more sustainably. And given the fact that in Switzerland, around 25 % of energy is used in the manufacturing industry, there is no surprise that factories are in the regulators’ spotlight.
We can take as an example, the first audit of subsidized audits in Geneva. The New Offer of Electricity (NOE) program took place between 2004 and 2011 and was initiated in order to reduce the electricity consumption of sites consuming more than 1 GWh of electricity per year. It was also implemented in order to provided financial subsidies so that industrial sites would be more motivated to make energy efficiency improvements.
Another interesting cantonal law is the one passed in 2016 in Lausanne which concerns electricity consumers of over 0,5 GWh a year or 5 GWh of heat. These sites, which are roughly 600 in the concerned canton, are obliged by law to undertake energy efficiency measures and fix specific objectives directly with its cantonal administration or the federal government. The industrials are tied by production-related KPIs. The most recent federal law related to energy efficiency is the New Energy Law, approved by the Swiss parliament in 2016 and by a referendum in 2017. Although the regulation does not mention industrials specifically, it provides specific measures to use energy more efficiently and support the use of renewables.
Various industrial groups, such as Nestlé in Switzerland, have been implementing sustainable development policies for decades. For example, Nestlé began more than 20 years ago and its efforts are well rewarded: every year it ranks at the top of the Environmental Performance Index. Recently, it has been seeking digital solutions which can make their food manufacturing even more sustainable on a continuous basis.
No matter the motivation, the overall economic, technology and social trends are motivating Swiss industrials to seek new ways of saving energy. And during the Energy Class Factory, the years 2016 and 2017 were marked as those which encouraged them to start looking for digital solutions, such as that of METRON.
After a day of exchanges with representatives of various industries in Switzerland, we were pleased to see how appealing the METRON platform is to them. They appreciated the simple set up of the solution which takes less than 3 months, the ability to achieve quantifiable savings during a long-term collaboration, and the possibility to prove regulatory compliance and decrease in CO2 emissions. As so, our digital platform helps industrials to achieve both their sustainability and regulatory goals with minimal investment and fast payback.
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