Energy is becoming an extremely critical cost to manage for all companies, especially when facing declining sales or profits. Managing ever rising energy costs is increasingly important to facilities management. Every day it becomes more important to understand where energy dollars are being spent. The first step to reducing energy expenditures is by having a verifiable understanding of why the energy dollars are being spent.

The best way to get this information is through a comprehensive monitoring system. Monitoring should be performed in all facilities where energy conservation measures are planned. This allows for analysis of energy reduction upon completion of projects.

There is also another important benefit to comprehensive monitoring and verification systems. Operations and maintenance leaders will be able to monitor the day to day operations of critical systems, such as conveyors, pick modules, motors and motor controls, air compressors, electrical systems, and electrical sub-systems. In addition, these systems can be configured to send an alert to other locations - such as Corporate Headquarters or to Regional Maintenance Directors - before major problems occur. When these automated alerts are sent, the Regional Directors can drill down to previous days, weeks, and/or, months as required, to analyze the alert, and identify similar events that have occurred in the past. Directors can watch the trends and program these alerts to watch for specific occurrences – such as increased impedance or resistance of motors, increased current loads on motors over previous days or months, or reduced head pressure on air compressors indicating leaks. Proactive preventative maintenance procedures can be implemented, eliminating down-time and making companies more profitable by keeping profit-generating units operational.

Climatic changes will have an immediate impact to energy costs. By monitoring climatic conditions, Directors can implement specific action to be taken by center level personnel. These actions could include reducing fresh air intake or recharging time implementation to reduce peak time charges.

This information will also allow for a thoughtful use of load shedding or curtailment plans offered by the utility.