Onduline reduces energy consumption and cost while boosting OEE

Launched on the French market in 1944, Onduline has evolved from a family business manufacturing roofing and under-roofing materials to the leader in lightweight roofing sheets made from recycled fibers and bitumen for pitched roofs. Today, Onduline is responsible for 95% of world production of bitumen sheets and operates in more than 100 countries.

With a longtime commitment to sustainability, in 2022 they launched a program called Planet Passionate to reduce carbon emissions that come from electricity consumed at their plants. When the program was launched, their only means of tracking energy consumption was through their monthly electric bill. But this didn’t give them the insights they sought - mainly understanding how much electricity is consumed by a particular piece of equipment to produce a specific amount of product. They sought a system that would accurately show them how much product they produce per kilowatt of energy consumed.

Onduline turned to Guidewheel for these insights. Onduline was live within two days. Director of Manufacturing Matt Yandura describes the setup:

“It was plug and play. We were live on Guidewheel a day or two after receiving the sensors. We set up alerts and the team started receiving emails and text messages about issues they needed to know about. That was the aha moment that really got the team bought-in. In the past we might have an issue during the night shift and the team would struggle for hours before making a call to leadership. But now the right people are alerted and can get involved right away to get it fixed quickly.”

With Guidewheel showing energy use machine by machine, Onduline's team found where power was going and acted on it. The revelation that certain equipment continued to draw power when supposedly powered off prompted a procedural shift, these machines are now systematically switched off at the breaker. Additionally, the discovery that a new piece of equipment consumed three times more energy than its predecessor for the same output empowered Onduline to make informed decisions on when to deploy this machine, effectively balancing operational considerations.

Beyond anticipated benefits, Matt and his team discovered unforeseen advantages from Guidewheel, particularly in bolstering Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) tracking with accurate uptime data. The elimination of uncertainties regarding the accuracy of Availability for OEE calculation marked a significant improvement. Moreover, Guidewheel's role in prompt issue response has been instrumental in averting potential productivity setbacks. For instance, the system alerts them to power outages affecting the air compressor crucial for the dry sprinkler system. This proactive notification prevents scenarios like past power outages tripping the air compressor breaker, leading to an unintended activation of the sprinkler system and consequential floods. Since Guidewheel went live, the team gets an alert when a power outage affects that air compressor, so they can act before the breaker trips.

Guidewheel is now part of how Onduline runs its plants. It connects the machines, shows how much energy each one uses, tracks uptime for OEE, and alerts the right people when something needs attention. That supports Onduline's commitment to sustainability and operational excellence.