Factory of the Future
Manufacturing makes up 24% of Germany’s economy and researchers plan for a significant role for the sector in the country’s future. But manufacturing, Bullinger said, must be smarter and more efficient. He noted that in the past, factories moved to areas outside cities because they were noisy and polluting.
But now, he said, many factories are cleaner and could have a new place in the urban environment. Moving them back into the city would provide a "higher quality of life," he said, by allowing employees to walk to work rather than commute in cars. Urban factories would be closer to populations of skilled workers, suppliers and technical and research centers.
In Germany, Bullinger pointed out, industry consumes almost half of the nation’s electrical power. He said manufacturers need to become both more energy and materials efficient. For example, companies save 20% in energy cost by using recycled aluminum rather than primary aluminum. Increasing the use of recyclable materials and bringing recycling facilities closer to factories could reduce energy and material demand.
When a manufacturer purchases a machine tool, the purchase price of the tool accounts for only 20% of the lifecycle cost of the machine. The other 80% is consumed with operational and maintenance costs. He said energy costs and cooling lubricant account for more than one-third of the cost of that machine over a 10-year period. So energy efficiency would have a dramatic impact on reducing manufacturing costs.
By making machining processes more accurate, he said, manufacturers benefit not only through reduced waste in the form of less scrap material but also save on the energy used to produce the scrapped product.
Energy efficiency extends not just to operational costs but to the design of products. Producing green automobile powertrains, for example, could result in not only the use of less material but also improved operating efficiency and the production of 20% less CO2.
“This is the vision we have for the cities of tomorrow zero CO2 emissions, energy efficient, even higher quality of life, smart cities built on intelligent networks, resource efficient,” Bullinger concluded.
