Rockford Spring
Rockford, Illinois
Intern: Brian Nolan
Bradley University, Peoria
Rockford Spring produces compression, extension and torsion springs along
with wire forms. The facility is ISO 9001:2000 certified. During
the summer of 2005, an EMS (Environmental Management System) document was drafted
in the event that the facility needed to gain compliance with ISO 14001 standards.
The intern reviewed the existing EMS to identify areas for improvement. Several
opportunities were investigated for energy savings at the facility.
Anticipated Results:
The intern:
- Reviewed the EMS, updated the list of environmental aspects and identified
new goals. Reporting forms were modified to make it easier to record future
progress in meeting EMS objectives.
- Identified air leaks that were repaired saving the company $500 annually.
- Recommended increasing the capacity of the compressed air storage tank
that could result in an annual savings of $3300 with a 17 month payback.
- Recommended cleaning rooftop air conditioner condenser coils every two
to three years. This had not been done since the building was constructed
12 years ago. This has the potential to save the company over $5600 per year.
- Investigated an overlapping shift schedule for the heat treat ovens that
once incorporated, would keep the ovens fully loaded during production. This
schedule would allow for an earlier shutdown of the ovens and save the facility
$7700 per year in natural gas cost with no investment.
- Concluded that by shutting off the make-up air to the inline ovens when
they were down, had the potential to save $5,000 per year.
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