Focus on Energy Helped Identify Major Energy, Cost Savings
HARTFORD – Completing Focus on Energy’s Strategic Energy Management program has revealed big energy and cost savings for Menasha Packaging Company’s Hartford facility.
A team of Menasha Packaging employees worked with Focus on Energy for more than 18 months to implement a continuous improvement program for energy management. The Strategic Energy Management (SEM) Program helps integrate energy considerations into organizational decision-making and operational activities.
Menasha Packaging Company is a subsidiary of Menasha Corporation and is headquartered in Neenah. Menasha Packaging is the nation’s largest independent, retail-focused corrugated packaging and merchandising provider. Its products and services are used by major food, beverage, health and beauty, pharmaceutical, entertainment, and electronics companies.
The Menasha Packaging team was recognized on October 3 as part of Energy Awareness Month for completing the SEM program. Their efforts garnered $97,500 in incentives from Focus on Energy, Wisconsin’s energy efficiency and renewable energy program funded by participating electric and natural gas utilities.
The Hartford plant operates 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Hartford Electric services the plant’s electric needs and We Energies provides natural gas.
The SEM Program provides technical, management and financial support for implementing an energy management program, identifying and implementing energy saving opportunities, and tracking energy performance improvement. The Hartford facility is one of 30 Wisconsin companies participating in the SEM Program.
“We were ready and committed to taking a comprehensive approach to managing our energy,” said Dan Dieringer, Regional Lean Manager for Menasha Packaging. “Focus on Energy provided the support to make our SEM effort a reality.”
A team of Menasha Packaging employees led by Dieringer, Ron Krebs, Maintenance Manager; and Joe Ziegelbaur, Electromechanical Technician; worked with Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy program to implement the management process, enhance energy data collection and analysis capabilities, and pursue energy efficiency projects.
Implemented projects included extensive metering and monitoring, new process heat recovery systems, and upgrades to lighting and compressed air systems. A more efficient boiler netted another $40,000 in returns. Changing a felt corrugator belt to a plastic model produced an annual energy savings of about $11,000.
“In terms of total energy usage, these improvements have saved more than 1.8 million kilowatt hours of electricity and more than 48,000 terms of natural gas. That’s enough energy savings to power 177 Wisconsin homes every year,” said Richard Feustel, Focus on Energy’s advisor to Menasha Packaging facilities.
“Menasha Packaging’s energy efficiency projects have reduced their impact to the environment, and their nearly $200,000 in annual energy savings go straight to their bottom-line,” Feustel said. “That makes this major Wisconsin employer more efficient and competitive in the global marketplace.”
As of July 2017, Menasha Packaging’s Hartford facility improved its electric efficiency by 3.16 percent and its natural gas efficiency by nearly 15 percent over its 2015 baseline period.
“Focus on Energy information, resources and financial incentives help us implement projects that otherwise would not get completed, or to complete projects sooner than scheduled,” added Dieringer.
Menasha Packaging officials plan to share the energy management insights and project information across the company’s network of more than 50 facilities in North America.
About Menasha Corporation
Menasha Corporation is a leading corrugated and plastic packaging manufacturer and supply chain solutions provider specializing in retail merchandising packaging and displays, plastic reusable containers and pallets, protective packaging interiors, and packaging supply chain and fulfillment services. Menasha Corporation’s products and services are used by major food, beverage, consumer products, healthcare, pharmaceutical, industrial and automotive companies. Established in 1849, Menasha Corporation is one of America’s oldest privately held, family-owned manufacturing companies. Headquartered in Neenah, Wisconsin, the company employs approximately 5,500 employees in more than 100 facilities in North America and Europe. For more information about Menasha Packaging, visit www.menasha.com.
