As with many industries the ability to remain competitive, lies in the drive to constantly improve quality while driving down costs. One of the big costs in automotive manufacturing is the electricity costs. By focusing on using technologies that are energy efficient is one way that automotive companies are able to reduce costs as well as be sustainable.

With its compressor solutions, Atlas Copco(https://www.atlascopco.com/en-in/compressors) helps auto OEMs and auto component producers to make their production processes more energy efficient, thus helping them reduce energy consumption. Conrad Latham, General Manager, Atlas Copco Compressor Technique, India, explains, “The auto industries on average spend around 15 percent of their energy costs on compressed air. Reducing this energy bill is critical to remaining sustainable in today’s competitive market. Atlas Copco has seen that many automotive companies are centralising their compressed air systems and capitalising on more energy efficient turbo compressors with heat of compression dryers.

”The most energy conscientious companies are seeing that the best solution for their production is to combine compression technologies so they use large variable speed drive oil-free screw compressors with their turbo compressors. “Coupling these compressors with heat of compression rotary drum dryers and having the whole system centrally controlled with an Optimizer 4.0 controller has seen a significant reduction in energy costs. Atlas Copco (https://www.atlascopco.com/en-in/) has seen worldwide that this solution has helped reduce energy bills of many automotive companies by around 10-12 per cent. One global automotive company that worked with Atlas Copco was able to see an energy cost reduction of more than $ 3 million,” observes Latham.

The biggest measurement that is used by the automotive companies concerned with compressed air is the amount of compressed air used per car produced. Atlas Copco is working closely with many auto companies to reduce the amount of compressed air required per car. “This starts with doing an air energy audit to check the compressed air pipework for air leaks, check the existing compressed air system and giving recommendations and an action plan on how to reduce the amount of compressed air needed. As the auto industries spend a lot of money on the electricity to produce compressed air, reducing the amount of air required per car is the biggest way Atlas Copco Compressors supports the auto industry in it’s drive to achieve their sustainability goals,” opines Latham.