Centenary celebrated with energy saving focus
1 min read
For people in the UK, it would perhaps seem unusual for a major European city to celebrate the centenary of a manufacturing company with such gusto as they have done in Gothenburg, Sweden, and the 100 years of SKF. But when the company itself is making such great strides in savings in energy and the environment, rather than simply saying, “we are 100 years old” it makes quite an impact.
For two years already, the business has been thinking ‘BeyondZero’, its own name for the activities – not only internally, but with its products and services also – aimed at preserving the world’s resources through saving energy. Now, at its centenary, it has announced a new range of energy efficient bearings, and is celebrating the work done so far in its own house. SKF’s manufacturing process, together with generating compressed air, accounts for 85-90% of its total energy consumption, according to Ulf Sjöblom, director of the SKF manufacturing development centre who says “Manufacturing is the most important issue here.”
The business now has a three level plan. Short term savings “from thirteen factories” says Sjöblom “are saving 5% per factory of total energy consumption.” And these are no, or low investment projects. Medium term projects, requiring minimum investment and including “an SKF specific energy training program at factory level” are targeted “to save 15% in three years” he adds.
And new technologies have the potential to save over 2% of the total SKF energy consumption. Overall, the savings potential is “equivalent to 380,000 household per month in Sweden” he says. A campaign across Gothenburg is making this point: “Less energy for machines, more for mankind.” This does indeed explain why the city has taken the celebrations to heart.
