Industrial chiller plants are often viewed as necessary background infrastructure rather than strategic assets. However, these systems typically account for 30-50% of a facility’s total energy consumption. When chiller performance degrades, it doesn’t just impact energy costs—it can significantly affect production throughput, product quality, and equipment longevity.

In today’s competitive manufacturing landscape, every percentage point of efficiency improvement can translate into significant cost savings and enhanced productivity. While many facility managers focus on direct production metrics, the performance of auxiliary systems—particularly chiller plants—can have a profound impact on overall operational efficiency. By transforming these traditionally viewed support systems into production assets, manufacturers can achieve both operational efficiency and competitive advantages.

This blog explores how optimizing chiller plant performance can serve as a strategic enabler of production efficiency, bridging the gap between auxiliary systems and core manufacturing goals.

Key Performance Indicators That Matter

The true strategic value of chiller plant optimization lies in its direct impact on manufacturing success. Optimized cooling systems become enablers of production excellence, transforming what many view as background infrastructure into a strategic asset that actively supports manufacturing goals. To effectively translate chiller plant performance into production efficiency metrics, facility managers should focus on three main KPIs:

Efficiency as a Production Driver (kW/ton)

This fundamental metric reveals more than energy efficiency—it indicates your cooling system’s ability to support production goals.  A well-optimized system typically operates between 0.6 and 0.85 kW/ton during peak conditions. Systems running above 1.0 kW/ton indicate poor performance that might stem from oversized chillers, inadequate maintenance, or inefficient control strategies—all of which can directly impact production capability. For instance, oversized chillers not only waste energy but also create unstable conditions that affect product quality. Similarly, inadequate maintenance leads to both efficiency losses and potential production disruptions.

By resolving these inefficiencies, facilities not only lower energy costs but also improve production KPIs such as cycle time and equipment uptime.

Environmental Stability as a Quality Tool (Delta-T)(ΔT)

The temperature difference between supply and return water serves as more than an efficiency indicator—it directly impacts production quality. Poor Delta-T often leads to production issues: uneven cooling performance can disrupt temperature-sensitive processes, increasing reject rates and compromising product quality. A properly maintained Delta-T ensures uniform cooling across production processes, directly supporting product quality and consistency.

When facilities efficiently manage Delta-T, they ensure optimal conditions for manufacturing processes while minimizing energy waste.

Adaptability as a Production Advantage (Partial Load Efficiency)

Most manufacturing facilities require varying cooling loads throughout their production cycles. Intelligent optimization strategies can improve partial load efficiency by up to 25%, directly supporting production flexibility. This adaptability ensures cooling systems support production needs while minimizing energy waste during lower-demand periods.

Variable-speed chillers and load-adaptive algorithms transform cooling systems from basic infrastructure into responsive production assets that automatically adjust to manufacturing requirements. This capability enables facilities to optimize both production schedules and energy use without compromising product quality.

The Direct Impact on Manufacturing Success

To fully realize the strategic potential of chiller plant optimization, it’s crucial to connect chiller performance metrics directly to production KPIs. This approach allows facility managers to align auxiliary systems with manufacturing objectives and drive systemic efficiency improvements.

When properly optimized, chiller plant performance directly enhances key production metrics:

Cycle Time Reduction

Stable and optimal chiller performance plays a critical role in reducing cycle times, which refer to the time required to complete a single manufacturing process. Shorter cycle times allow for increased production throughput and lower operational costs. Reducing cycle times through improved chiller performance also minimizes energy waste by ensuring that cooling systems operate efficiently during each production run. This ensures consistent cooling, preventing delays caused by overheating or temperature fluctuations, and aligning auxiliary system performance with core production goals.

Quality Improvement

Temperature stability directly impacts energy efficiency and production quality in many manufacturing processes. Precise temperature control minimizes the energy required to maintain set points while ensuring consistent production conditions. By avoiding fluctuations, chiller plants reduce the likelihood of overcooling or excessive cycling, which can lead to wasted energy and increased operational costs. This stability aligns cooling system performance with production goals, ensuring energy-efficient operations and enhancing overall output quality.

Energy Cost per Unit

Tracking energy consumption per unit of production reveals the direct link between chiller performance and manufacturing efficiency.  This metric provides a clear view of how energy usage aligns with production outputs, enabling the identification of inefficiencies in cooling operations. High energy costs per unit can often signal suboptimal chiller performance, such as excess cycling or poor load management, which can inflate operational costs and reduce overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).

Implementation Strategies

Translating chiller performance improvements into production gains requires a systematic approach. To do so, manufacturers should focus on deploying advanced optimization strategies, developing robust integration approaches, and leveraging the power of analytics and reporting.

Deploy Intelligent Control Strategies

Advanced optimization platforms, such as tekWorx Xpress®, offer a range of capabilities that can significantly enhance chiller plant efficiency. These platforms utilize load prediction algorithms to anticipate cooling demands and adapt chiller operations accordingly. By optimizing chiller sequencing and balancing system performance with production requirements, these strategies ensure that cooling capacity is consistently matched to demand. Automated response mechanisms allow the system to dynamically adjust to varying conditions, maintaining optimal efficiency across a wide range of operating scenarios.

Develop Integration Strategies

Integrating chiller plant control systems with production planning software is a critical step in aligning cooling operations with manufacturing requirements. By establishing a bidirectional flow of information between these systems, manufacturers can optimize chiller performance based on real-time production schedules and forecasts. This integration enables facilities to proactively adjust cooling capacity during periods of reduced production, minimizing energy waste while ensuring adequate cooling is available during peak demand.

Analytics and Reporting

The power of advanced analytics lies in its ability to transform vast amounts of chiller plant data into actionable insights. By leveraging machine learning algorithms and predictive modeling techniques, manufacturers can identify hidden inefficiencies, optimize performance, and prevent costly downtime. Real-time monitoring and reporting capabilities provide a comprehensive view of chiller plant performance, enabling facilities to make data-driven decisions and continuously improve their operations.  

Summary

When properly optimized, chiller plant performance improvements can deliver substantial production efficiency gains. The key to success lies in viewing chiller plant optimization as a strategic enabler of production efficiency, rather than a standalone energy-saving initiative. By connecting performance metrics such as kW/ton efficiency and system load adaptability directly to production KPIs, facilities can transform their chiller plants from basic infrastructure into valuable assets that enhance competitiveness and drive operational success.