Transparent Integration of Energy Awareness into Production Planning Systems

Abstract

Integrating renewables into the grid introduces price fluctuations that stem from their inherent volatility. To mitigate this, adopting an energy-aware production planning strategy benefits factories and the grid. By aligning production processes with periods of abundant renewable energy and lower costs, factories can actively reduce their energy expenditures while simultaneously smoothing grid strain. However, such a transition requires expensive retrofitting of production planning systems. This paper proposes an approach to transparently integrating energy awareness into an existing Manufacturing Execution System (MES), resulting in a cost reduction without the need to retrofit the MES.