Energy Reduction in Glass Furnaces Using JMP®
Rui Abreu, Saint-Globain Glass, Portugal.
In 2008 Saint Gobain Glass launched the global project: Reduction of Energy Consumption. This initiative encompassed 30 glass plants globally and had an ambitious target of a 5% reduction in energy use in the furnaces (see picture1). A team was formed and decided to attack the problem on three fronts: • A review of the measurement system • Best Practice identification and sharing • Lean Six Sigma (DMAIC) From the Lean Six Sigma (DMAIC) front the JMP was used to analyse the data from the plants primarily to help identify the correlations between causes of energy consumption. Pilot tests were performed and models built to help us find the best way to lower energy consumption. The team created a master summary, using JMP (histogram, brushing, partitioning, screening, fit y by x, chart control, capability, etc.) for all the plants. The JMP software helped improve our awareness of the problems of data collection and how to manage them, to improve our know-how of the furnace process, to avoid losing time when analysing the data, and to explain in a clear way (using JMP’s visualisation tools) to our director our progress and reasons for the future course of action.