B.F. Goodrich Aerospace, Aircraft Sensors Division
- Customer
- B.F. Goodrich Aerospace, Aircraft Sensors Division (Burnsville, MN)
- Facility Use
- Aircraft Sensor Manufacturing
- Project Size
- Three 1500 kW generators (in two free-standing buildings) brought on line in 1994.
- Projected Payback
- Five years
- Construction/Installation Time
- 7 months
- Utilitiy disc for standby system
- .0228 cents/kwh.
- Maintenance/Operation
- Contract with EA through Ziegler.
Original Customer Concern
Cost control was the original motivator for this project. As a defense contractor, any opportunity to shave general operating overhead costs without affecting the companys design and manufacturing functions took a high priority in B.F. Goodrich Aerospaces facility planning program. Rate discounts provided by the companys utility provider generated an ROI which originally justified the investment.
Subsequent Benefits
This standby system has played an important role in driving the companys on-time delivery record into high 90% range. According to Carl Lind, Facility Manager for Burnsville, MN, operation, uninterrupted power eliminates two potentially major problems. The qualification process for many of our parts may require up to 120 hours of continuous testing. If that were interrupted by a power outage, we would have to delay shipment for several days while the process was reinitiated and completed.
The second issue is in our IS department. Their network and program are the backbone of our operation. If we lost power virtually anywhere in the facility, the effects could cascade, creating invalid information in other parts of the system. He explained that the time it might take to check out and restore their systems could easily be far longer than the power outage itself.
Lind continued, At the end of the day, we need to deliver a higher level of customer service than our competitors. The on-time delivery rate were achieving now makes a significant impact on both our sales and profits.
Maintenance Issues
Energy Alternatives discussed the full range of maintenance issues with the B.F. Goodrich project team. According to Lind, For us, a comprehensive operations agreement that include 24/7 monitoring in addition to both planned and preventative maintenance services made the most sense. Each gen set has over 25 sensors that monitor everything from fuel level to the units kW output. From their remote central station, the maintenance people fire up our equipment at least once every two weeks and run a complete diagnostic. If any sensor indicates an out of spec condition, they dispatch a service team immediately to remedy the situation.
Clients
- Retail Chains
- E-Commerce Centers
- Food Distribution Centers
- Telecommunication Centers
- Education Facilities
- Zoos
Testimonials
"By working closely with utilities like ours for several years, Energy Alternatives has developed a very good understanding of what utilities require in terms of interconnection and system protection."
Craig Turner
Engineering Services Manager
Dakota Electric Association