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L’Oréal, based in Libramont since 1975, specialises in the production and packaging of hair colouring and hair care kits for the European consumer market. This production site, a pioneer in the field of sustainable development, has just warmly welcomed the MSE6-E2M energy efficiency module as a preferred partner of Festo.
For more than 20 years, this factory, through its environmental unit ETN SHE, has been stepping up initiatives to tackle a specific challenge: “How can we produce more with less impact?”. Reducing CO₂ emissions, optimising energy consumption, minimising transport, reducing water consumption and the volume of waste produced, and, moreover, promoting recycling: the Libramont site is active on all fronts.
Thanks to the commitment of its teams, the Libramont plant has become a flagship of industrial excellence in the field of sustainable development. Certified to ISO 50001, it is fully aligned with the strategic concept of “sharing beauty with all” launched by the cosmetics giant in 2013. L’Oréal is committed to a sustainable internal policy covering both environmental and social aspects.
In 2009, thanks to the introduction of biomethanation, the Libramont plant became the Group’s first 100% green energy plant.
A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then, but it is no longer treated as mere waste – it is recycled. In fact, the L’Oréal plant has become a “dry factory”! In other words, 100% of the water used for industrial processes (such as tank cleaning) is treated and reused for other processes on site.
With its global expertise in the development of Industry 4.0, Festo contributes to the digital transformation of businesses. The Internet of Things (IoT), smart factories, cyber-physical systems and big data hold no secrets for Festo. An IoT architecture and a wide range of intelligent services are either already available or under development.
Right from the start of the factory’s operation, Festo has maintained excellent relations with the factory’s technical staff. Jurgen Seymortier, a sales engineer at Festo, works closely with the engineers, meets their expectations and advises them. This approach goes even further: when acquiring new production units, the emphasis is on the integration of Festo components. Finally, to improve knowledge of new technologies, specific training courses are organised by Aldo Zottos from Festo’s training department.
To evaluate the technical capabilities of the MSE6-E2M portable energy-efficiency module, Festo offered to host it at L’Oréal’s factory for the company’s technical managers to assess. This application was also on display at the latest Indumation trade fair, featuring a dashboard that illustrated the real-time energy consumption of a L’Oréal production unit.
This ready-to-use solution requires minimal set-up to become operational: the connection of pneumatic pipes and a network or 4G connection. The cabinet comprises two main components:
– The MSE6-E2M intelligent air handling unit
It is an intelligent pneumatic supply unit equipped with measurement and diagnostic functions that support the energy-efficient operation of pneumatic systems. The module is typically installed downstream of a combination of supply units. The MSE6-E2M comprises the following main components: shut-off valve, flow sensor, pressure sensor and bus node.
If the E2M detects a standby condition based on predefined data, the compressed air supply is automatically shut off. Compressed air consumption drops to zero during these pauses, even if the system has leaks! When the air supply is cut off, the E2M checks the system for leaks. A rapid drop in pressure indicates excessive leakage. A notification is then sent to the operator. The air supply system monitors, diagnoses and alerts maintenance teams for the first time based on actual requirements.
E2M provides simple energy monitoring by continuously supplying process data. The E2M is connected via the fieldbus and cyclically exchanges key data such as flow rate, pressure and consumption.
– The CPX-IoT Gateway, the gateway to the cloud
The CPX-IoT Gateway connects the MSE6-E2M Energy Monitoring Module (or other Festo components) to the Festo Cloud via the OPC UA interface. The cloud enables data preparation and monitoring. This makes it possible to derive trend analyses and set up systems for early warning and automatic notifications for intermediate events.
The CPX-IoT IoT Gateway offers pre-configured dashboards for every Festo component. Dashboards are pre-configured views of a component that display values in the cloud in a visually appealing and clear manner. They include static device information such as the Product Key, as well as dynamic information such as real-time data, historical data and more. You can access them “wherever you are and at any time”.
The energy efficiency module was installed on a Cermex casepacker. This machine was chosen because, on the one hand, it consumes a large amount of pneumatic energy during operation and, on the other hand, it forms part of a production line in which measuring equipment is integrated to monitor consumption in real time.
What lessons can we learn from this?
According to Mr Benoît Laurent, Technical Supervisor at L’Oréal: “The first observation is that the module is performing as expected; the reading on the dashboard showed us that the compressed air supply was poorly adjusted. On the other hand, the casepacker had a flow rate of 80 l/min, which is not normal (for this test, the automatic flow shut-off function during breaks had not been activated).”.
Following a measurement campaign, our conclusion is that a measurement system is useful for our production hall. We can collect data, analyse our production cycles and monitor energy flow at the weekend, but we need to go further by integrating other data, such as electrical energy. ” In terms of energy efficiency, this simple measurement of pressure and flow rate makes it possible to assess the total consumption for the production of x number of products and, from this, to calculate the OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness).
The L’Oréal Group already has its own cloud. All available data from the factory is integrated for analysis. From a technical perspective, whether during maintenance work or when acquiring new production units, every effort is made to install integrated flow meters. A pneumatic measurement is more accurate than a simple current clamp on a conductor!
Data collection makes it possible to carry out predictive maintenance, provided you have the resources to perform trend analyses. For the time being, maintenance is always preventative and sometimes corrective. Measuring is all well and good, but the aim is to go one step further! Festo has understood this perfectly. They have just acquired Resolto Informatik, with its SCRAITEC artificial intelligence software, to offer this predictive maintenance service via its IoT architecture. That is why a manufacturing unit such as L’Oréal could consider reducing its maintenance costs even further by not systematically replacing certain components of its production equipment. This is the way forward!
