Machine tool optimization strategies for ecologic and economic efficiency

Abstract

Optimization activities in manufacturing must be addressed in the multifaceted context that combines economic, social and environmental goals. Research activities of today not only strive to cope with the legislative pressure of the Directive of the European Parliament on Energy Using Products but also strive for economic advantages for the machine tool user by investigating and applying suitable procedures and methods that help to model, forecast and reduce overall energy consumption. A key issue is the reduction of the amount of resources consumed for the same output and the increased machine tool efficiency with the help of selective methods and a minimum investment. A bottom-up approach to identify potential initial points for optimization is given in the presented research work. This article introduces a methodology for detecting and evaluating reasonable investments for retrofit solutions with different approaches. A technical measurement and optimization approach, depending on the actual circumstances, and an economic approach, that is used to detect optimization potentials with the economic evaluation of selected solutions are proposed in this article.