Process chain simulation to foster energy efficiency in manufacturing

Due to the significant ecological relevance and constantly rising prices, energy consumption more and more gets into the focus of manufacturing companies which strive to consciously consider energy consumption when planning and managing production facilities. Thereby it is important to take into account the interdependencies of all technical processes (production and technical building services). Against this background this paper presents an integrated concept to foster energy efficiency in manufacturing companies on different layers. Important part of the concept is an appropriate simulation approach. The approach enables to derive and evaluate technical as well as organizational measures to increase energy efficiency with respect to both ecological and economic objectives. (C) 2009 CIRP.