Maintenance and sustainability – An interview with our Managing Director André Panné
Sustainability and energy efficiency are not just trend topics, they are increasingly characterising industrial maintenance. At SPIE RODIAS, we pursue a clear mission to integrate resource-saving, future-orientated solutions into existing systems.
What do you understand by sustainability in maintenance at your company?
For us, sustainability in maintenance means working with our customers to implement long-term measures that conserve resources and thus have a positive impact on the longevity of systems and their energy consumption. This results in both ecological and economic benefits. The focus here is on integrating control options to improve sustainability into existing industrial plants. Many of our customers work with complex and older systems that are not yet designed for modern, sustainable optimisation. The challenge here is to work with customers to develop customised solutions that strike a balance between sustainability and cost awareness.What role does the topic of ‘energy efficiency’ play in this context?
Energy efficiency is one of the most important levers for sustainable maintenance. The first step is usually to make the energy consumption of large and complex systems transparent and measurable. For many industrial companies, it is still difficult to obtain detailed data on the energy consumption of individual components, system parts or production steps. Switching to energy-efficient processes often requires deep intervention in existing processes. This requires not only technical adjustments, but also a reorganisation of internal processes and employee training. Companies are also confronted with outdated infrastructures that need to be upgraded at best or replaced at worst. This requires considerable investment in some cases. Our customers must also fulfil the requirement to reconcile energy efficiency targets with production requirements, especially in high-performance industries. Here in particular, failures or delays can mean considerable economic losses.How do you and your customers benefit from these two aspects and their effects?
Our customers benefit from sustainability and energy efficiency measures in the long term: Cost savings through reduced energy, emissions and maintenance costs and longer system lifecycles are one aspect. But downtimes can also be reduced and maintenance windows planned more efficiently. Nevertheless, the initial investment and the calculatory uncertainty about the long-term benefits represent hurdles. At the same time, customers have legitimate doubts as to whether the savings from reduced energy and maintenance costs and longer system lifecycles justify the upfront investment in sustainable solutions. Ultimately, however, compliance with legal requirements, such as the EU taxonomy or other environmental standards, becomes the decisive argument that no one can ignore if they want to produce in Germany. The challenge here is that these regulations are often complex and industry-specific, making it difficult for companies to maintain an overview, fulfil the requirements and take the necessary measures. For many companies, the question will arise as to whether they want to face this challenge in Germany or in the EU at all.How could energy-efficient processes and sustainable measures and materials reduce the environmental impact of maintenance?
Energy-efficient processes and sustainable materials can significantly reduce the environmental impact of maintenance by reducing energy consumption, waste, emissions and wear. However, the biggest challenge is to implement such processes across the board in historically grown structures. Companies have to work profit-orientated here and now and are therefore often forced to stick to existing practices that appear more cost-effective in the short term. The use of innovative materials such as recyclable or durable components also offers potential for savings and improvements. However, it requires careful consideration of whether these materials are compatible with existing equipment and technologies and are financially viable.How important are these topics in your organisation and what strategies are you pursuing?
Sustainability and energy efficiency are high priorities at SPIE RODIAS. We endeavour to do justice to these issues with a long-term strategy that encompasses several aspects: Firstly, we are constantly trying to identify innovations for our customers that make both economic and environmental sense. This includes the use of digital technologies such as IoT and machine learning. They enable us to optimise maintenance processes and identify potential energy savings. On the other hand, we rely on the gradual introduction of such solutions into the often outdated system environments in order to make the transition as smooth as possible for our customers. In doing so, we focus on continuous training and further development of our customers and service providers. At Maintenance in Dortmund (19-20 February 2025), we will be showcasing specific practical examples of how our customers are leveraging not only economic but also ecological potential by digitalising their maintenance at stand L20 in hall 5. We cordially invite you to come and talk to us in person to find out more.What are the biggest challenges here?
The biggest challenge in implementing sustainable and energy-efficient solutions is the high initial investment and the uncertainties regarding the amortisation period. Companies often tend to make short-term investment decisions, which can delay the introduction of energy-efficient measures. Here we try to use cost-benefit analyses and concrete practical examples to show that these measures bring enormous economic and ecological benefits in the long term. Another obstacle is technological integration: many plants and systems used in our customers’ operations are not compatible with modern energy and sustainability solutions. Upgrading or even replacing these systems not only requires high investments, but also intensive planning and potential production interruptions. The training of skilled labour is also a challenge. Sustainable and energy-efficient maintenance requires new skills and a deep understanding of modern technologies and processes. It is crucial that both internal employees and our customers receive ongoing training in order to realise the full potential of these solutions.Examples from practice:
- We introduced a comprehensive digital maintenance solution for a large energy supplier. The biggest challenge was to integrate the existing infrastructure, which had grown over decades, into a modern, energy-efficient system. With the help of IoT sensors, we were able to monitor energy consumption in real time and make optimisations based on this. The result was an energy saving of 12%.
- We implemented a mobile solution for a railway company to make train maintenance more efficient. The challenge was to ensure seamless communication between the mobile devices and the older train control systems. By using predictive maintenance, we were not only able to increase the energy efficiency of the trains, but also reduce CO2 emissions through optimised maintenance cycles. This required comprehensive training for the technicians working with new digital maintenance tools.
- In a chemical company, we were able to significantly reduce energy consumption in production by using energy-efficient pump systems and sustainable materials. The integration of these systems was challenging as the production process could not be interrupted. A step-by-step implementation was necessary in order to maintain production capacities.
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