When productivity and sustainability go hand in hand.
It is possible to increase productivity while reducing energy consumption and emissions – as demonstrated by the factories recognized for their outstanding sustainability performance with the World Economic Forum’s “Global Lighthouse Network” award. Through technological innovation, these plants achieve significant progress towards more environmentally friendly operations, setting an example for sustainable development.
One of the latest factories to receive this recognition is located in Fürth, Bavaria, Germany. By deploying modern technologies, the plant reduced its energy consumption by 64%, cut CO₂ emissions per unit of production by 72%, while increasing productivity by 145%. This is not the first Siemens manufacturing facility to be recognized as a lighthouse factory: the plants in Amberg and Erlangen in Germany, as well as Chengdu in China, have also received this distinction.
Focus on energy efficiency
Founded in 1954, the Fürth site employs around 1,700 people in the development and manufacturing of industrial automation products. Among the products manufactured here are SIMATIC HMI touchscreen industrial display panels, which serve as control panels for production processes around the world.
Settings being configured on a Siemens SIMATIC HMI operator panel at the Fürth plant.
The site plans to achieve net-zero emissions as early as 2026, four years ahead of Siemens’ global corporate target. With this goal in mind, an interdisciplinary sustainability team was established at the site as early as 2012 to systematically introduce measures aimed at reducing energy consumption and CO₂ emissions. In addition, between 2019 and 2023, the amount of industrial waste generated per unit of production at the plant decreased by 47%.
At the heart of these energy-efficiency measures is a program aimed at improving the energy performance of both buildings and production processes. More than 350 measuring devices collect performance data across the site, enabling targeted reductions in energy consumption with the help of integrated software solutions.
The system can also automatically recommend specific improvements to identify further savings opportunities. As a result, for example, 952 MWh (megawatt-hours) of energy was saved in lighting systems and another 103 MWh in building automation, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of approximately 2,000 households. These savings are also reflected in the carbon footprint of the products manufactured at the site, which can be calculated accurately based on data collected by the measuring devices. In 90% of cases, Siemens’ SiGREEN software, developed specifically for this purpose, is used for these calculations.
Solar panels installed on the roof of the parking garage at the Fürth site.
Modernized grids and circularity
Energy losses resulting from power grid incidents – such as outages caused by weather conditions or overloads – are minimized at the site with an electromagnetic filtering system. During the period examined between 2019 and 2023, this solution helped save 3.8% of total electricity consumption. It also made the energy supply more stable and reduced the risk of downtime.
The plant also applies circular economy principles to reduce industrial waste. An on-site repair facility has already helped extend the service life of 310 different products, and this number is expected to increase to 2,000 by 2026. Extending product lifetimes also reduces their carbon footprint, while the plant avoids the CO₂ emissions associated with both disposal and the manufacturing of replacement products.
Decarbonization
In addition, further measures are being implemented to reduce the site’s energy consumption, increase resource efficiency and promote greater energy self-sufficiency. In autumn 2023, for example, a 3,300-square-metre photovoltaic system with a peak capacity of 460 kWp (kilowatt-peak) was installed on the roof of the parking garage. For comparison, an average residential solar system typically operates with a peak capacity of 2–5 kWp. This is also one of the largest photovoltaic systems installed at a Siemens facility.
The factory now also produces nitrogen on site for use in manufacturing processes such as welding. As a result, since 2024, there has no longer been a need for nitrogen deliveries to the plant. Waste heat generated by industrial processes is also used to heat the building.