In his “Transition to the Connected DC” speech at IMHX, Eric Harty, VP of Strategic Marketing at Honeywell mentioned the statistic of 22% of supply chain companies now using Industrial IoT technology. He said we can look forward across the different warehouse systems to cloud-based fault detection, asset insights, automated maintenance planning, remote incident alerts, maximum uptime and reduced costs, all visible on a mobile.
We’re already there in warehouse lighting. DANLERS has partnered with Wirepas to offer lighting controls featuring Mesh Based Wireless Connectivity. Wirepas Mesh is a decentralised wireless communication protocol enabling Industrial IoT networking, optimising energy usage with the added benefit of real time data analytics. DANLERS WM sensors communicate wirelessly to form a mesh network built on standard Bluetooth chips and creating effective energy saving solutions for occupancy control and light level control.
These systems needn’t be high maintenance. In warehouses, DCs and factories, unscheduled lighting maintenance of lighting equipment can mean wasted productivity and avoidable downtime. With the new SylBay Generation 2, this can be a thing of the past. The SylBay Generation 2 will soon be available with Sylvania’s cutting-edge SylSmart intelligent lighting controls versions for Connected Industry applications. Facilities managers, owners and operators are armed with the information to maximise energy efficiency and reduce operational costs across the business.
LED lighting is available to all sizes of operation. In a recent project Whitecroft Lighting gave Goliath Coventry, the UK’s largest DC, an LED lighting upgrade featuring enhanced products and integral lighting controls. The new scheme has increased Goliath’s light output by 37.5%, with a reduced number of luminaires, while the COMEPS emergency system guarantees regular, centralised testing and reporting, a key requirement. Best of all, the reduced maintenance costs have transformed this huge site into a highly responsive and agile space, ensuring the facilities meet the business needs of future tenants.
Also in this feature, the lights won’t be going out at our docks after Brexit, at least not if Luxonic have anything to do with it. Associated British Ports’ Port of Hull Terminal needed a lighting system that could meet the energy demands of a 24-hour port with very little downtime. Luxonic introduced new reduced load LED high bay luminaires, combined with a wireless control system to target areas not in use. To support the system, they also offered real-time energy monitoring through a wireless transceiver module in each fitting. ABP is now rolling the system out across the rest of its UK ports, having achieved a 96 per cent saving on energy costs thanks to Luxonic.
Finally, a frequent reason people give for not converting to LED is the high cost of installation. The reality is that leasing schemes such as Goodlight’s Bright Plan have zero impact on cash reserves so operations can fund their new LED lighting out of their reduced energy costs. On the Beatles’ Abbey Road album, currently celebrating its fiftieth birthday, Mean Mr Mustard shaved in the dark trying to save paper. He needn’t with LED warehouse lighting!
Bill Redmond
Features Editor
Comments are closed.