As Engineering Manager for Bostik's Leicester operations, Steve Cook's responsibilities include finding ways to reduce the input costs of its products.

Cook says, “ For some time, I'd suspected that our plant was using too much energy in its production process but, although we had quite a few electricity and gas meters, I never had the information I needed to be able to make an impact.” Then I came across GAIA and I realised that it could provide me with what I needed.”

Once GAIA was up and running, Steve quickly identified areas and machinery where power was being consumed unnecessarily. He was then able to make an immediate impact by reducing machinery speeds (e.g. stirrers) and temperatures (e.g. hot melt ovens), at the times when they were not needed for in production process.

“One of my KPIs is the control of energy consumed per ton of product produced. Thanks to GAIA's information, over the past 12 months I've exceeded that KPI by reducing the consumption by 400MW per ton,. For us, that represents a significant 8% reduction.,” asserts Cook.

From the outset, Steve put together a Energy Strategy Team who, by customising materials given to them by GAIA, initiated a hearts and minds energy reduction programme throughout the plant. The team still continues to meet once a month to review consumption and plan strategies for future reductions.

On the subject of the future, the EST isn't sitting on its laurels, “Now that we've squeezed most of the energy wastage out of the current process, we're looking at ways that we can re-engineer that process to reduce our consumption still further,” concludes Cook.

As Operations Director for the Melton Mowbray Building Society, Mike McDermott is responsible for its buildings, services and environmental impact. For some time he and his fellow directors had felt that the society was consuming more electricity than was necessary. The difficulty was to identify where the reductions could be effectively made and so a specific energy reduction programme remained an aspiration.

Early in 2009, Mike met with Haydn Young from GAIA and they discussed how the GAIA approach could potentially help MMBS achieve those reductions.

"We'd used an energy broker to get a better price for our electricity but that didn't address our desire to reduce consumption", says McDermott. "The FD and I thought that we should be able to reduce the society's consumption and cut the bill by 5%, which would be around £3000pa", he continues. "We were approached by GAIA and after some detailed discussions with them, we felt that the GAIA approach could help and the £3000 became the target"

Six months later, when McDermott was asked whether the society were on track to achieve the 5% reduction target, he answered, "We significantly exceeded our target. We're making savings of £1200 per month, which is more like a 20% reduction."

When asked how they achieved such stunning results McDermott explains that apart from discovering some high consumption anomalies like the air conditioning coming on during weekends, the reduction has come about because they have managed to influence and change the behaviour of the staff. "The regular graphs are very easy to understand and the GAIA consultant helped us interpret the finer points. He suggested actions that we could take to encourage the staff to take responsibility for the society's electricity consumption".

In order to eliminate 'consumption creep', McDermott makes use of the on-line GAIA monitoring and alert system. He also set up and chairs two-monthly Energy Committee meetings, made up of department representatives, which reviews consumption, "This small group also produces a Energy Tip of the Week and a newsletter".

"Without a doubt, GAIA has been a worthwhile investment for us”, concludes McDermott.

Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Meggitt PLC is an international group employing some 8,000 people specialising in aerospace equipment, high performance sensors, defence training and combat systems.

Eager to control energy spending and demonstrate strong environmental credentials, Meggitt have been supported by the GAIA energy monitoring system and Webinar training programme. The information provided has helped Meggitt identify a broad range of areas to reduce consumption, cutting both electric and gas usage.

Simon Hughes Site Services and Facilities Manager said ”Through monitoring our energy usage and responding to irregular consumption patterns we have identified a range of measures to save both gas and electrical energy. The measures taken to date have contributed at least £15'000 of savings and we still have some way to go before all the waste is eliminated. With GAIA supporting our activities we are confident the savings can be secured for the long term”

Leicester based Wykes International, manufacturer of specialist yarns for industrial and apparel markets, has a site which encompasses both productive production machinery and its main offices.

Having conducted energy efficiency projects in the past, Wykes were uncertain that GAIA could help them achieve further savings but through the Webinar Training Programme energy savings of £10,000 p/a were quickly identified with GAIA data directing efficiency activity in specific areas.

Operations Manager Mark Mellor said “At first we were unsure if GAIA would find anything new, so it was surprising to find savings after the first Webinar session. Now as a result of the GAIA project we know where to focus our attention to make savings in the long and short term”.

Cressall Resistors is the world's foremost resistor manufacturer based on Evington Valley Road, in Leicester.Cressall Resistors has 100 years experience in producing power resistors for use in the electro-technical market. With design and manufacturing facilities within the UK, Cressall supply both standard and custom designed resistors for any application from a few watts up to several megawatts and for operation at any voltage. Cressall are committed to total quality and have a Quality Management System approved to ISO 9001:2000.

In June 2008 Cressall, subscribed to the GAIA system to monitor and control their energy consumption. By identifying higher out of hours consumption during night shift operations they identified savings of 280 KWH units per night (£500 a month). Bill Urwin Quality Manager said ‘Using GAIA we have generated a positive financial payback in weeks which can be secured for the long term through the continual monitoring and alarm settings provided by the GAIA system’

Fanela are wholesalers of printed and embroidered promotional garments including t-shirts, jackets, caps, tracksuits, shirts and leisurewear base in Coalville, Leicestershire.

Initially Fanela were uncertain how GAIA could help their business save energy as they run a tight operation all from one site. They opted to subscribe to the GAIA Webinar based programme taking a three month trial to see how the technology works. As a result of this trial Fanela have found a wide array of efficiencies not originally envisaged. These included:

1) Unexpected machinery left on overnight/weekends.
2) Heating of hot water over weekends.
3) Excessive capacity allowances for electricity consumption.

Looking at the energy bills during the period Fanela have managed to cut out unnecessary consumption saving Fanela £200-£400 a month.

DENSO, a leading supplier of advanced automotive technology, systems and components for all the world's major automakers, operates in 32 countries and regions with approximately 119,000 employees.

Michael Spencer Facilities and Administration Manager said “Initially I was uncertain whether DENSO Sales UK Limited would benefit from the GAIA energy efficiency programme. DENSO have quite modern facilities so I was unsure we would learn anything new. However since using GAIA, DENSO have been able grasp our energy consumption in much more detail than we expected. Were now able to monitor our energy consumption and, where possible, change our working practices to make savings. We’ve set a range of new energy efficiency goals and GAIA’s helping us achieve these.”

Market Harborough District Council has long been respected for environmental best practice having one of the best recycling rates in the country at over 50%.

Eager to demonstrate further best practice within the council offices for energy, MHDC now monitors Gas and Electricity Consumption with 30 minute interval data provided by GAIA on a daily basis. Consumption irregularities are flagged up and action taken within the council to drive down usage by effective energy saving measures. Energy manager Graham Ladds said “Using this system we can react to energy consumption faster, reducing energy usage and our carbon footprint”.

Alcon is one of the world’s foremost manufacturers of performance and motor sport brake and clutch systems; supplying and winning in F1, WRC, NASCAR, Indy Car, Touring Cars and GT racing, as well as engineering extreme solutions for several leading performance road car manufacturers.

Eager to control peak consumption and reduce their environmental impact with ISO14001, Alcon use the Gaia monitoring system to keep track on electricity usage. With 48 consumption reads taken per day, the data available at www.gaiaactive.com and alerts set up should consumption hit a set limit, Alcon have their energy under control.

Operations Manager David Fuller said ‘We at Alcon are keen to show our commitment to good environmental best practice. Using GAIA we can visibly see our energy consumption enabling us to drive down usage and save money at the same time.’

Welland Park is a Community Technology College serving the needs of 11-14 year olds in Market Harborough, Leicestershire.

Recognising the need to demonstrate environmental best practice, Welland Park College are using the GAIA system remotely monitor their electricity energy consumption. The GAIA system provides 30 minute interval data transmitted daily to the school, providing alerts when consumption exceeds previously set parameters. GAIA helps management identify and analyse usage patterns and spikes and to profile energy use

By maintaining control Welland Park can minimise energy costs and cut carbon emissions.

Harboro Rubber produces rubber components for a wide range of manufacturing industries including automotive, aerospace, electronic and defense. Driven by the need to maintain both competitive and environmentally responsible, Harboro are using Gaia to control electricity consumption. Consumption irregularities are flagged up direct to the customers email account enabling actions to be taken quickly should usage exceed set parameters.

Jim Tonkin: Engineering Manager said: ” By closely controlling our maximum demand capacity and responding to energy consumption peaks we have identified significant financial benefits potentially saving us many thousands of pounds per year and reducing our impact to the environment around us ”.

The Angel Hotel is a privately owned 24 bed hotel establishment based in the Market Harborough, Leicestershire.

Eager to manage energy consumption and reduce environmental impact, The Angel is using Gaia’s remote energy monitoring service to track their consumption by 30 minute intervals. Using ‘GAIA’ the Hotel has managed to identify consumption peaks for attention with a constant 24/7 monitoring service flagging up any irregularities should they occur. By maintaining control the Hotel can minimise energy costs and cut carbon emissions.