The desire to improve lighting efficiency and reduce maintenance costs were among the factors that informed the upgrade at the vehicle manufacturer’s Blackpool facility.

For leading commercial vehicle manufacturer Dennis Eagle, the recent implementation of a comprehensive lighting upgrade at its Blackpool facility was the result of a congruence of several key circumstances. In addition to replacing the factory building’s roof – meaning that a new lighting system for this part of the facility was high on the agenda – the operators also needed to respond to a company directive to reduce energy costs in the 2016-2017 period. Inevitably, they quickly realised that switching to next-generation lighting was going to be a crucial element of the strategy.

Dennis Eagle’s Neil Walton says that the primary objectives for the upgrade were “to replace the oldfashioned lighting with more efficient equivalents; achieve better control of the lighting; and simplify maintenance and reduce associated costs in the long-term.”

As a busy factory with a steady throughput of different types of vehicle (although Dennis Eagle has traditionally been best known for its refuse collection vehicles), the upgrade needed to be as unobtrusive as possible to day-to-day operations. Consequently, the work was carried out in phases and primarily on nonproduction days.

On-site work

The team at Dennis Eagle – Blackpool took time to research nextgeneration lighting and to consider what solution and provider would be most appropriate for the project. After linking up with Phil Thomas, Sales Engineer at Tamlite and electrical wholesaler CEF, Dennis Eagle was convinced that Tamlite Lighting had the products and the expertise to deliver on time and in budget. Tamlite provided a scheme featuring a number of the company’s latest and most efficient LED lighting solutions.

Following advice from Tamlite, Mr. Walton also decided to implement motion sensors to ensure that lighting was only used when and where it was required. “We had experimented with motion sensors in some of our offices and had found that they worked out very well for us,” he says. “So with this upgrade we implemented them across the site in tandem with the new lighting systems. We expect it to deliver significant energy cost reductions for us over the long-term.”

As intended, the work schedule was devised in order to complement the needs of the factory floor. “We had to work around production times,” says Neil Walton. “The factory is closed on Fridays, so we carried out a lot of work then as well as on Saturdays. It is worth pointing out that our on-site electrician proved to be really invaluable, too. The first phase of the project centered upon the fabrication shop, then during an annual shutdown period at the end of July and beginning of August, we moved onto the finishing line where the vehicle cabs, interiors and electrics are completed.”

Long-term benefits

The work was completed to time and budget, and by general agreement has delivered a significant improvement to the overall quality of illumination. “There have been many positive comments about the new lighting,” says Mr. Walton. It will take a while for the longterm energy savings to be realised, although consumption by LED lighting when compared to traditional equivalents is frequently as much as 60% lower. Nonetheless, it has already been shown to be playing its role in the broader objective of saving energy across the site, with overall consumption dropping by several hundred kilowatt hours between 2016 and 2017.

With more energy-saving measures planned, consumption is set to be reduced even further in 2018. And contributing to this positive outlook will be a further wave of lighting upgrades that will again be undertaken in conjunction with the Tamlite Lighting team. “We have been really delighted by the results of this upgrade,” confirms Neil Walton, “so we are happy to move onto other areas of the Blackpool site. We have now upgraded various offices, boardroom and ancillary spaces with new lighting, this work was completed by year end 2017.

TAMLITE LIGHTING

www.tamlite.co.uk

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