Measure the Hidden Energy Cost of Production
The utility bill is a single number. This PoC breaks it down: metering at the machine or panel, consumption tied to work orders and output, idle draw exposed at night and between shifts, and power-quality problems that were costing money invisibly.
Measure my energy use caseTalk to a manufacturing engineerIs this the problem you need to solve?
- Energy cost is allocated by floor area or by guess, not by what each machine actually used.
- Nobody knows what the plant draws at 3am when nothing is being produced.
- Peak demand charges appear on the bill with no explanation of what caused them.
- An efficiency project cannot be justified because the before-number does not exist.
Primary buyer: Energy Manager · Plant Manager · Sustainability Manager · Maintenance Manager · Finance Director
What this PoC will prove
Recommended pilot scope
- Selected high-consuming machines, or one electrical panel — typically 3 to 10 measurement points.
- The meters agreed for the scope, existing ones reused where they are usable.
- Production output data for the same machines and period, so consumption can be correlated.
- Your tariff structure and cost rules, so kWh becomes money.
- A representative operating pattern, including at least one full non-production period.
What will be live during the PoC
How this PoC runs
Durations are typical, not guaranteed. What extends a schedule: missing or incomplete data, security and network approvals, hardware lead times, sample collection, installation access, the production schedule, ERP test access, and the time your team needs to review results.
No unplanned shutdown is expected. Any installation window or controlled interruption is agreed with you in advance and scheduled around production.
How success will be measured
| Metric | How it is defined | Where the number comes from | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| kWh per product or work order | Metered consumption divided by confirmed output for the same period and machine. | Sensor, meter or device data | Operational |
| Idle energy | Consumption during periods with no production output, by machine and by time of day. | Sensor, meter or device data | Financial |
| Peak demand | Maximum demand in the measured period and the activity coinciding with it. | Sensor, meter or device data | Financial |
| Power factor and phase imbalance | Measured power factor and imbalance across phases, against the level your tariff penalises. | Sensor, meter or device data | Technical |
| Measurement coverage | Share of the scoped load actually metered, and what remains unmeasured. | Sensor, meter or device data | Technical |
| Data completeness | Share of expected measurement intervals received without gaps. | MSF platform data | Technical |
| Energy cost allocation | Share of the scoped energy cost that can now be attributed to a specific machine, product or order. | MSF platform data | Financial |
| Identified savings opportunities | Each opportunity with its measured basis, its estimated value and what implementing it would require. | Sensor, meter or device data | Financial |
Before implementation, MSF and your team agree how each metric is calculated, where the baseline comes from, what data is excluded, and what result supports a rollout decision. This page lists what gets measured; the actual targets belong in the written PoC scope, not in a marketing claim.
What you need to provide
- Single-line diagrams, the machine list and safe electrical access for installation.
- Existing meters and their protocols, where they can be reused.
- Tariff structure, cost rules and the operating schedule.
- Production output for the metered machines over the same period.
Who does what
Meta Smart Factory provides
- Discovery workshop and scope facilitation
- Solution configuration for the agreed scope
- Integration and connection work inside that scope
- MSF hardware listed in the proposal
- Training for the pilot users
- The KPI definitions and validation method
- Issue tracking and support during the pilot
- The final result report and rollout design
- Meter commissioning, verification against a reference and the data path into the platform.
- An energy-per-product model built from your own measurements and tariff, not from an industry average.
You provide
- A named business owner and a named technical owner
- Timely access to users, the line, machines and approved systems
- An accurate explanation of the process and the master data
- Network, power, mounting and safety access
- ERP, PLC and vendor documentation, plus the experts who know them
- Representative samples or historical data
- Validation that the baseline is fair
- Feedback and the acceptance decision
- Qualified electrical staff or a contractor to make the connections safely, and the permit to work.
- A representative operating period, including a genuine non-production window.
Defined in the written proposal
- Panel PCs, tablets, servers and GPU servers
- Cameras, lenses, lighting and enclosures
- Scanners, printers, RFID readers, meters and sensors
- Travel, installation, freight, import duty and local electrical work
- Whether hardware is rented or purchased
- Whether any PoC fee is credited against a rollout
Commercial terms, hardware ownership, travel, integration scope and any rollout credit are defined in the written PoC proposal. They are not the same for every product, and this page does not promise them.
What you receive at the end
- A live energy dashboard for the metered scope.
- Measured baseline with top consumers and idle losses ranked.
- Energy-per-product and per-work-order model.
- Anomaly list, including power-quality findings.
- Recommended actions, each tied to the measurement that justifies it.
- Meter rollout design and an ROI scenario built on measured values.
Dependencies, exclusions and limits
This PoC depends on
- Safe electrical access and a qualified person to install meters inside panels.
- A representative operating window — a two-week holiday shutdown is not a baseline.
Not included in this PoC
- Electrical works beyond meter installation, and any tariff or supplier negotiation.
- Compressed air, gas, water and steam metering unless explicitly scoped.
Savings are presented as measured opportunities and scenarios with their assumptions written next to them, never as a guaranteed percentage. What a PoC can prove is where the energy goes; what it saves depends on the actions you then take.
Go, adjust or stop — the decision gate
Frequently asked questions
How many machines should we meter?
Typically 3 to 10 measurement points, chosen for share of consumption rather than convenience. One panel covering a whole area often answers the first question — where does it go — faster than ten individual machine meters.
Can we use our existing meters?
Where they expose a usable protocol and measure what the question needs, yes, and reusing them is checked first. Where they only produce a monthly total, they cannot answer a per-product question and the gap is stated plainly.
Will you guarantee a percentage saving?
No. Any supplier quoting a saving percentage before measuring your plant is quoting someone else’s plant. This PoC produces measured consumption, ranked losses and costed opportunities, and lets you decide which ones to act on.
How long does the measurement period need to be?
Long enough to be representative — a full production cycle including changeovers, a weekend and at least one genuine idle period. Four weeks is typical; seasonal loads need longer and the report says so rather than extrapolating.
Related products and PoC programs
Request this Proof of Concept
Tell us the scope you have in mind and we will come back with a written PoC plan: what gets connected, what you provide, how success is measured and what the decision at the end looks like.