Gigatek Optimizes Energy Efficiency in Pursuit of ESG

Partner: Gigatek, S&E Technology

Industry: Electronics

Region: Taiwan

Interview with Quan-Wei Wei, Project Manager of the General Manager Office of Gigatek; Zhao-Geng Tsai, Vice President of the Management Department of S&E Technology

Introduction 

With increasing environmental awareness and energy supply limitations, optimizing energy management has become essential. Established in 1984, Gigatek Inc. has always been optimistic about emerging market demands for energy management. Accordingly, in 2016, Gigatek established S&E Technology Co. Ltd., to provide energy management-related software and hardware integration services. To promote environmental sustainability, Gigatek integrated Advantech’s iFactory EHS (Environmental Health and Safety) solution to construct an energy management system (EMS) that optimizes energy usage at their factory, realizing the company goal of promoting environmental sustainability.

To promote environmental sustainability, Gigatek integrated Advantech’s iFactory EHS (Environmental Health and Safety) solution to construct an energy management system (EMS) that optimizes energy usage at their factory, realizing the company goal of promoting environmental sustainability.

Leveraging Advantech solutions to build an EMS

According to Quan-Wei Wei, Project Manager at Gigatek, the company launched an energy conservation project in 2017 that allowed S&E Technology to assist Gigatek with building an EMS in two phases.

The first phase focused on factory equipment that consumed high amounts of energy; for example, air compressors, air conditioners, and production machinery. The second stage targeted other equipment such as switchboards, water pumps, and pump motors to gradually realize the intelligent control of all point-of-use equipment.

Zhao-Geng Tsai, Vice President of S&E Technology, explained that from a system architecture perspective, during the first phase S&E Technology installed digital meters on all electrical equipment to collect and analyze the data using WebAccess graphical control software. Then they used the dashboard built into the building energy management system (BEMS) to generate reports that provide an overview of energy consumption. 

In the second phase, because of the system’s evolution, S&E Technology upgraded the original BEMS to the iFactory EHS modular software platform. This allowed S&E Technology to expand the distribution board on each floor and use plug-and-play digital signage to display energy consumption data in real-time. The iFactory EHS system also provided advanced functions such as carbon asset management, factory patrol and inspections, and energy demand forecasting to facilitate future expansion. 

At the application level, the system exports equipment energy consumption data and generates reports specific to Gigatek’s management requirements. By having regular reports sent to every department, supervisors are aware of the energy consumed in specific zones of the factory without needing to log into the system. This allows supervisors to remind employees to minimize electricity usage and prevent excessive electricity consumption.

Two key benefits in energy conservation and equipment performance

Since implementing the iFactory EMS, Gigatek has reduced its annual electricity costs by approximately US$25,700, while achieving two key energy conservation benefits. The first benefit is that they can more accurately control electricity usage. Mr. Wei explained that by using the EMS to understand their energy consumption, they were able to formulate multiple energy conservation strategies. These strategies include not turning on all electrical equipment simultaneously, which causes a spike in electricity consumption, and determining how many air conditioners should be active based on the internal building temperature. Together, these strategies have helped reduce their overall electricity consumption. 

The second benefit is that the EMS safeguards equipment performance. Previously, Gigatek would only replace equipment that was damaged or unusable. Now, the EMS allows them to identify declining equipment performance to facilitate prompt replacement in order to maintain consistent performance. 

Collaborating with Advantech to help enterprises implement ESG

“Advantech’s complete solution is one of the keys that allows Gigatek to successfully demonstrate its energy conservation efforts,” Mr. Tsai explained. The products Advantech provided for this solution included digital meters, digital signage displays, iFactory EHS, servers, and various software and hardware.

Better still, Advantech’s solutions can cover a diverse range of application scenarios. From energy data acquisition, aggregation, and management to final data presentations, Advantech’s solutions allow S&E Technology to easily manage complex energy consumption data. Furthermore, throughout the project execution process, Advantech was able to provide technical support as soon as problems arose, ensuring the project was completed smoothly. 

Moving forward, S&E Technology expects to cooperate with Advantech more closely by leveraging Advantech’s software suite to redevelop IoT applications and port them into Advantech’s WISE-iFactory industrial cloud. This will accelerate the implementation of IoT applications and assist enterprises with optimizing energy management and implementing effective ESG policies. 

" Advantech’s complete solution is one of the keys that allows Gigatek to successfully demonstrate its energy conservation efforts." -  Quan-Wei Wei, Project Manager of Gigatek Inc.

Solution and Benefits

Advantech’s iFactory EHS solution optimizes energy use and eliminates energy waste through data collection, analysis, and management insights, helping enterprises reduce operating costs and achieve their environmental sustainability goals. In addition to energy management, the modular system provides multi-faceted solutions for sustainable factory management, including advanced functions such as carbon asset management, factory patrol and inspection, and energy demand forecasting.

Case Study Benefits

• Reduced annual electricity costs by approximately US$25,700 
• Facilitates the continuous reduction of electricity consumption 
• Safeguards consistent equipment performance