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Potters Industries

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Industry

Industrial

Opportunity

In November 2017, NYSERDA offered Potters an opportunity to focus on how it could incorporate energy efficiency into its business operations—a chance to save energy and improve its profit margin while maintaining its stringent standards

Results

Now, everyone at the facility is beginning to see how his or her individual actions can help keep energy use low and profit margins healthy.

SEM Partner

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)

nyserda.ny.gov/

This is a fraction of a Level 2 audit cost. And instead of empowering one guy, you’ve empowered your team. The results could be exponential.

Jason Bell

Energy Manager @ Potters Industries

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About Potters Industries

Potters Industries is a 102-year-old company that operates a manufacturing facility in Potsdam. Potters is world-renowned for its precision engineered glass materials, which are used in a wide variety of applications, from highway safety striping to industrial explosives. With so many customers in different industries
depending on its products, Potters’ three priorities have always been safety, quality, and timeliness. 

The Challenge

For Potters, energy costs have always been a significant and sometimes volatile expense. In 2017 NYSERDA invited Potters to participate in a pilot program aimed at helping the State’s industrial sector save energy through a new approach to energy efficiency: strategic energy management (SEM).

The Solution

The NYSERDA pilot has been eye-opening for everyone at Potters. Everyone, from personnel on the shop floor to upper management, is more aware of their roles in saving money for the company through energy efficiency. Employees in Potsdam are currently reaching out to their colleagues at other Potters sites in North America
to share their experiences and learn about energy efficiency successes that other teams have had at their sites, that they could implement at Potsdam.

SEM helps us build operators rather than maintainers. People who will help drive the process rather than just sit in a control booth and make sure bells and whistles don’t go off. - Jason Bell, Energy Manager

Potters’ SEM-driven improvements include:

  • Compressed air reduced by 15%—By repairing leaks and lowering supply pressure.

  • Furnace upgrades—Including completely reworking one furnace, replacing the liner on another, and adding a new heat recovery unit to eliminate the need to operate additional drying equipment.

NYSERDA is contributing $270,000 toward the cost of the dryer and furnace upgrades through its Industrial Process and Efficiency program. Potters’ electric utility, National Grid, has also contributed several thousand dollars in efficient equipment rebates. Many more projects are in the works, with projected savings and paybacks that have everyone excited.

The Results

In closing, speak to the results your customer saw after using your product. This section can be supported by statements, quotes, visuals, graphs, and metrics. Whatever you decide to include, be sure it illustrates how much of an impact your company made on your customer.

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