Energy-Efficient Manufacturing System Management

Dear Colleagues,

It is essential to reduce energy consumption and emissions and achieve a more efficient use of raw materials. To date, industry is one of the largest users of primarily fossil-fuel-based energy.

This Special Issue of Energies will focus on “Energy-Efficient Manufacturing System Management”, as developed within the framework of the factories of the future. The European Commission is currently funding a large number of research programs, including the Factory of the Future (FOF) cluster FOF-09-2020 on energy-efficient manufacturing system management. This cluster can be described as an innovation action, which is focused on developing digital solutions that support the energy-efficient management of manufacturing systems and the results are demonstrated in real-world contexts of industrial environments. This project cluster comprises the following four individual projects around this central theme:

• DENiM: Digital intelligence for collaborative energy management in manufacturing;
• ECOFACT: Eco-innovative energy factory management system based on enhanced LCA and LCCA towards resource-efficient manufacturing;
• E2COMATION: Life-cycle optimization of industrial energy efficiency through a distributed control and decision-making automation platform;
• ENERMAN: Energy-efficient manufacturing system management.

Collectively, these projects will develop energy-efficient practices to overcome the barriers that limit their application in the manufacturing sectors. The result of these activities is the definition of a pathway towards energy efficiency that allows industry to understand the current situation and to stimulate the definition of a strategic roadmap to incorporate energy efficiency as a key criterion in operational and organizational decision-making.

Manufacturing systems are complex because many parameters, related to the environment, components, usage of materials, machines, cells, lines and supply chains, collectively influence the energy performance of production processes. We are open to contributions (original research articles and high-quality reviews) that aim to combine innovative methodologies, tools, techniques and technologies in a holistic, intelligent and interoperable manner and that have the potential to provide significant energy savings in the manufacturing domain.

Prof. Dr. Robert J. Meier
Dr. Alan McGibney
Prof. Dr. Matti Vilkko
Guest Editors

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