Schneider Electric helps Namibia Breweries enhance operational visibility and data collection
Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management and automation, announced the success achieved at Namibia Breweries Limited, one of the leading beverage companies in the region. Namibia implemented a Schneider Electric Information Management solution to consolidate data collection and optimize operational visibility across brewing operations.
Namibia installed a 1MW rooftop solar plant in 2013 to improve sustainability and profitability, becoming completely energy self-sufficient. However, gaining a centralized perspective on energy usage was difficult due to disparate utility management systems across solar, NH3 cooling, boilers, CO2 plants and water and power meters. Namibia implemented Schneider Electric Software’s historian to consolidate data acquisition, storage and reporting. The solution now allows users to view utility consumption and production data from anywhere in the plant, increasing operational visibility for improved decision support.
“Having real-time information available at the click of a button is the key to a modern manufacturing business enterprise,” said Bernd Esslinger, Engineering Manager at Namibia Breweries.
With data now available from across brewing, packaging and distribution, users can work from a single source of truth. Daily, weekly and monthly reports show water, electricity, chemicals, thermal energy, solar generation, carbon dioxide and air consumption, comparing results with KPI targets. Critical production data is displayed on dashboards in real-time and linked to KPIs. In the future, Namibia can use this information to turn off non-critical plant equipment to increase sustainability and help avoid unnecessary costs.
“We were drawn to a Schneider Electric Software solution because of its scalability and ease of use, as well as their deep industry expertise and focus on customer needs,” said André Engelbrecht, Manager: Industrial Control Systems at Namibia Breweries.
