Ford Van Dyke: Compressed Air Management Program Leads to Improvements that Reduce Energy Consumption at an Automotive Transmission Plant

Staff at the Ford Van Dyke Transmission Plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, have increased the efficiency of the plant's compressed air system to enhance its performance while saving energy and improving production. After plant staff identified opportunities for system improvements, a qualified instructor from a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Allied Partner, Scales Air Compressor Corporation,helped to clarify several of them. The resulting improvement measures are yielding energy savings for compressed air of more than 1 million kWh; energy and maintenance cost savings total $165,000. The total cost of planned upgrades and other measures was $336,000, for a 2-year simple payback.