Diehl Metering’s solution for ESSILOR. Image credit: Diehl Metering
ESSILOR, one of the largest industrial companies in the world that manufactures ophthalmic lenses, has chosen Diehl Metering to assist them with their water-saving programme, deploying smart solutions, meters, and systems worldwide. ESSILOR, which produces up to 500 million lenses a year, needs numerous stages of manufacturing to realise the high level of quality they offer to customers. However, each stage necessitates the use of water, of high quality, in huge quantities.
For a number of years, as part of the continuing improvement of their environmental management approach, ESSILOR has been conducting an innovative water-management programme – a structured “Eco-design” approach that has become a standard in five key stages: Measuring, processing, recycling, reducing, and reusing.
The pilot project that was carried out in a French facility led to the identification of strategic metering points, “Water Mapping”, a precise outline of the varying ways of using water and where the site was modelled on the consumption for each type of use, whether it be process, pre-treatment, or otherwise.
“ESSILOR needed a highly reliable supplier, able to support out project of water reduction, in a worldwide industrial environment,” EHS WW Operations Director, ESSILOR, Philippe Cuny, said. “Qualification of needs and tests of Diehl Metering’s solution on the pilot site convinced us of the reliability and robustness of their radio solution. Moreover, metering technologies can manage multi-fluids and energy consumptions with the same infrastructure. Diehl Metering also offers a performing data management software, a genuine tool for supporting decision-making.”
Diehl Metering offered ESSILOR a water metering solution based on a complete fixed radio network that ensures simple installation and setup in all countries – its frequency is flexible according to account legal constraints, and can be used with the 868 MHz Europe provides, or the 434 in South America.
Diehl Metering supported ESSILOR and formed the group’s first team to carry out the installation at the first site, whereupon the organisation would be able to improve and customise the Water Model to other plants. Various metering technologies were combined depending on the plants – single-jet, volumetric, or ultrasonic – with the IZAR RC i 868 R4 radio with the RDC receiver and the data management software IZAR@NET completing the network. To analyse other fluids and process, Diehl Metering offers IZAR RE Air, a temperature sensor, and IZAR BE Pulse radio for electricity metering.
IZAR@NET, the data management software, sent hourly information according to ESSILOR’s configuration, and from there, monitoring of water consumption revealed variations in comparison to a standard consumption rate for the production of each lens. To address the issue, the Water Model was able to instantly adjust the action plan according to the precise measurement and analysis of water consumption.
Due to this innovative solution, the pilot project managed to lower the water consumption for each lens produced by 50 per cent in one year. The group then made the decision to deploy the Water Model on a large scale around the world with Diehl Metering’s technical support.
“Diehl Metering solutions supplies key indicators on each type of consumptions,” Cuny explained. “Data analysing generates improvements for processes and allowing an economy of 50 per cent of water consumptions in one year. For example, water leaks or process deviations are clearly identified, and we can decide to set up corrective actions faster and durably. ESSILOR now has a unique model for all our plants that allows a global view of the global practices used. Diehl Metering solution contributes significantly to our programme of economic performance.”
