Overview
Gates Canada Inc., a manufacturer of highly engineered power train components in Stratford, Ontario, wanted better visibility into how natural gas was being used across production. The company was dealing with operational questions that had real cost implications, including whether portions of furnace operations should remain running over the weekend or be shut down and restarted.
Union Gas sponsored a research project to test the impact of Energy Monitoring and Targeting (EM&T), and Energent served as the delivery partner. The result was a practical demonstration of how real-time monitoring and predictive modeling could reduce both gas and electricity intensity in a large industrial operation.
The Challenge
During the economic downturn, Gates reduced operations to a five-day production week. However, part of the furnace system continued to idle at full temperature over the weekend because restarting it was difficult and operationally sensitive. Management wanted to know whether the savings from full shutdown would outweigh the restart burden, but lacked the data needed to evaluate the question properly.
The broader issue was that Gates had no clear way to understand gas use by production area in real time. Monthly utility bills did not provide enough detail to support operational decisions.
Our Solution
Union Gas initiated an EM&T research project and engaged Energent as the delivery partner. The platform provided real-time feedback and predictive modeling that allowed Gates to connect energy performance directly to operational behavior.
This gave plant management a much more practical decision-making framework, helping the team evaluate specific operating changes and measure their effect on energy intensity and cost.
Implementation
- Union Gas initiated an EM&T research project and engaged Energent as the delivery partner. The platform provided real-time feedback and predictive modeling that allowed Gates to connect energy performance directly to operational behavior. This gave plant management a much more practical decision-making framework, helping the team evaluate specific operating changes and measure their effect on energy intensity and cost.
- With real-time monitoring and predictive capability in place, Gates was able to evaluate operating decisions more accurately and identify where process changes were creating measurable savings. The project demonstrated how energy information tools could support both day-to-day decision-making and longer-term performance improvement.
Key Takeaways
- This case study shows that better energy data is not just a reporting tool — it is an operating tool. Gates used energy monitoring and targeting to answer practical plant questions, reduce uncertainty, and improve both natural gas and electricity performance.
- It also demonstrates the value of combining platform visibility with operational accountability. Once plant teams could see energy use at a more actionable level, they could evaluate changes more confidently and sustain better performance over time.
