A practical approach to reduce energy consumption in a serial production environment by shutting down subsystems of a machine tool
Energy efficiency in production is becoming increasingly important for the automotive industry, motivated by political regulations and competitiveness. Many theoretical approaches to achieve an efficient production via advanced control have only been tested in experimental environments. Important for the transfer into serial production is the proof that all requirements (e.g. quantity and quality) will be met. For ensuring production on demand, machine tools (MT) imitate the real production process to keep themselves at operating temperature. All subsystems of a MT operate at full power in this state, disregarding its necessity. Shutting down these subsystems during non-productive periods is a promising approach for saving energy. This paper will present a method for shutting down components during non-productive periods, while ensuring the ability to produce on demand. Successful tests were already performed during live operation in a plant of a car manufacturer in Berlin, Germany.
