BaMa – Balanced Manufacturing

Simulation-based method for energy and resource efficiency in production

Flagship Project FFG

In 2013, the manufacturing industry was at a turning point: rising energy costs, legal pressure and growing social awareness brought resource efficiency to the forefront of industrial production strategies. While availability, adaptability and productivity remained key success factors, there was no holistic approach to optimising energy and material flows within complex production systems.

BaMa developed a simulation-based method for monitoring, predicting and optimising energy and resource consumption in production facilities, taking into account economic factors such as time, costs and quality.

Why BaMa?

• Integration of all plant areas (production, buildings, energy, logistics, management) into a common evaluation methodology
• Systemic, modular approach to energy and resource simulation in manufacturing facilities
• Linking real production data with digital optimisation tools to increase efficiency
• Derivation of a product-related footprint based on energy, time and environmental impacts.

Project

The BaMa method is based on a modular structure: production facilities are segmented into so-called ‘cubes’, each of which represents a specific physical behaviour and contributes to the overall energy balance. Each cube contains defined interfaces for interaction with neighbouring modules.

An experimental demonstrator was used to validate the concept and enable the derivation of product-related energy and resource data. This data was incorporated into the development of a digital product footprint that maps the expenditure in costs, time, energy and emissions along the factory process.

Based on this, a tool chain was developed that comprises three central modules:

• Monitoring: aggregation and visualisation of current resource consumption
• Forecasting: prediction of future energy requirements based on product footprint and production planning
• Optimisation: simulation-based improvement of plant operation with regard to energy efficiency and economic key figures.

Vision

BaMa stands for future-oriented, data-based production planning that combines efficiency and competitiveness. The method developed has been successfully implemented in several industrial companies and offers a transferable model for different industries.

In addition, guidelines for BaMa implementation in accordance with ISO 50001 have been developed to facilitate the introduction of systematic energy management. BaMa thus makes a measurable contribution to the decarbonisation of industrial processes, resource conservation and the transformation of manufacturing towards sustainable production cultures.