Saint-Gobain Oberland chooses energy efficient LED lighting for plant renovation
The lighting challenge..
With more than 15,000 people working at 58 manufacturing sites worldwide, the Saint-Gobain brand Verallia is a worldwide leader, specializing in high quality glass containers for baby food and many other sectors of the food and beverage industry. When the time came to renovate a quality control and packing hall at its Neuburg glass packaging plant in Germany, Verallia was looking for a more efficient lighting solution to replace its 250W HPS high bays that were actually drawing 300W.
Seventy percent of the glass packaging produced here is from recycled glass. The melting process is in continual operation 24/7 and likewise the packaging process where the lights are installed, so a high degree of availability and reliability is required. The old HPS high bays needed replacement every 8000 hours and this process involved the regular expense of bringing in a scissor lift and specialist maintenance personnel.
It was also essential that the new lighting solution would be robust enough to comply with the plant’s HACCP certification which is very strict about food safety and the elimination of the risk of any foreign objects in products.
The solution
Head of Electrical Maintenance, Matthias Maile, tested two alternative LED high bays for three months before choosing 150W LED High Bay on the basis of its robustness and price. He also preferred its ease of installation, which can be achieved with a single cable, and proceeded to replace all 65 of the HPS fittings with dimmable LED high bays on a one-for-one basis.
The result
The 150W LED high bays have immediately delivered a 50% reduction in energy needs and the same reduction in CO2 emissions. With the ability to dim the LED high bays, the energy savings will increase further as daylight hours extend with the approach of summer.
Thanks to 5-year continuous performance warranty, maintenance has been eliminated. With this and the LEDs’ expected lifespan of ten years, it’s likely that they will pay for themselves several times over during their lifetime.
Matthias Maile comments: “Our forklift drivers like the LED light - it’s now delivering up to 190-250 lux at floor level. This is the first German plant in the Verallia Group to have LEDs installed and I’ll be discussing this experience with the electricians from our other plants in Germany, as I’m already planning to replace all our lights with LEDs.”