Kawasaki Precision Machinery (UK) Ltd (KPM UK), a subsidiary company of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, is based on the banks of the river Tamar in Plymouth, South-West, England. The company manufactures axial piston pumps, radial piston motors, and swing motors, and it distributes other hydraulic equipment manufactured in Japan, predominately to the European market. KPM UK’s main markets are construction equipment (excavator and mobile), marine and general industrial equipment manufacturers. KPM UK’s journey to net zero KPM UK is aligned with Kawasaki Heavy Industries Group’s mission: ‘Kawasaki, working as one for the good of the planet’, and its 2050 challenge in aiming to be CO2, waste and harm free. This means achieving net zero emissions in all business activities, including products and services, zero waste emissions and zero chemical substance emissions. KPM UK has its own plan to reach net zero for scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2035 and scope 3 emissions by 2045. So far, KPM UK has installed 2130 solar panels (1MW) on the roof of its factory, offsetting 2170 tons of carbon per year. The company has also converted 90% of all its lights to LED lighting, to reduce energy consumption by 12%. It has engaged the workforce in energy awareness campaigns to reduce energy use when the site is out of operations – reducing the base load by 30% – and replaced compressors with more efficient ones while reducing on-site air pressure from 8 to 6.8 bar. The facility’s heating and cooling system has been reduced by 2 degrees, and it has removed its sodium treatment plant, reducing site energy consumption by 10% and eliminating the hazardous chemicals used in this process. The KPM UK facility is also a zero-to-landfill site; all waste is either reused, recycled or sent for energy recovery. KPM UK will not stop there; it is seeking further planning permission for more solar on-site, investigating battery storage, hydrogen power plant technology, rainwater harvesting, process water recovery, reducing other processing temperatures and using more inverters on drive motors, making them more efficient driven at slower speeds. Sustainability in product design KPM UK’s sustainability journey goes beyond striving for net zero in its operations, but also in its product development. KPM UK is developing products with sustainability and efficiency at the forefront. It is developing excavator control systems to optimise machine control and power matching, which results in reduced fuel consumption, developing main control valves with improved flow paths to reduce pressure drop, axial piston pump rotary groups designed to achieve class-leading efficiencies, and noise reduction and radial piston motors with accurate, continually variable displacement control to improve system efficiencies. The wider Kawasaki Group is also developing its Hydrogen Road Map for a more sustainable society. KPM UK is working with the Precision Machinery Division to develop hydrogen fuel cell systems and specialist valves for future clean and efficient construction machinery. KPM UK continues to develop products to accelerate the reduction of the environmental impact associated with equipment that uses hydraulic components and systems. It is focused on providing sustainable products with high reliability and robust designs to extend their service life. Coupled with its operational net zero ambitions, KPM UK is leading the way in developing a sustainable future within the fluid power industry. Sustainability in action Driving sustainability: Enabling sustainability 44 www.bfpa.co.uk Lee Crocker, Managing Director at Kawasaki Precision Machinery (UK), explains how the company is driving its own sustainability-focused activities and how its products are helping customers achieve their own environmental goals.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ0NzM=