34 n FOOD AND BEVERAGE September 2026 www.drivesncontrols.com Moving from efficient machines to energy-aware production lines The Food and Drink Federation’s Achieving Net Zero handbook says that manufacturers can reduce emissions immediately through energy efficiency and renewable electricity, while longer-term progress depends on decarbonising heat and switching to sustainable refrigerants. At the same time, the 4E Electric Motor Systems Platform, an international initiative linked to the International Energy Agency (IEA), reports that motor systems account for 53% of the world’s electricity consumption. Motor-driven equipment is a practical starting point for savings. However, to embrace these opportunities, food and drink manufacturers must look beyond individual components and understand whole-line energy use. In food and beverage plants, demand is rarely constant. A line may run different recipes, packaging formats, batch sizes and cleaning cycles in the same week. Pumps, fans, mixers, conveyors and packaging equipment may operate at full load for one product, partial load for another, then sit idle during changeovers or washdown. If the motor-and-drive system is designed around a single duty point, it may not reflect how the line actually behaves. Energy-aware production starts with the duty cycle. Engineers need to understand when equipment runs, how loads change and whether the process genuinely requires fixed-speed or variable-speed operation. A highefficiency motor remains important – for example, WEG’s W22 that runs at Premium (IE3) and Super Premium (IE4) efficiencies. But it is only one part of the picture. An efficient motor running unnecessarily, operating against a throttled process or driving a poorly matched mechanical system can still waste energy. Where demand changes, VSDs (variablespeed drives) can help. Instead of using mechanical restriction to control flow or output, a drive can adjust motor speed more closely to the process requirement. In food and beverage applications, this can be useful on pumps, fans, mixers, conveyors and other equipment where throughput, pressure, flow or product movement varies. The challenge is knowing where that flexibility will create real value, and where a simpler fixed-speed arrangement may be more appropriate. Mechanical specification is also part of the energy conversation. Gearboxes, couplings, belts, bearings and conveyor design all affect how much useful work is produced from the energy supplied. In a washdown or high-duty production environment, a gearbox must also be chosen for reliability, service factor, access and suitability for the application. For example, modular geared motors – such as WEG’s WG20 – can help engineers consider the gearbox as part of the wider motion system, rather than treating it as a separate component. Digital visibility is increasingly important. Without data, energy efficiency can become a one-off upgrade rather than an ongoing operating discipline. Cloud-based monitoring tools can support this by helping teams view machine performance, create dashboards and adapt data visibility to the needs of different users. For food and beverage manufacturers, the route forward is practical. Start by mapping the largest motor-driven loads, their running hours and how demand changes across products, shifts and cleaning cycles. Then review whether the motor, drive, gearbox and control strategy still match the process. Finally, use monitoring data to check whether expected savings appear in real operation. Energy-aware production is not about replacing every component with the highestefficiency option available. It is about understanding how the line behaves, selecting equipment around real demand and giving engineers the visibility to keep improving performance over time. n Food and beverage manufacturers have spent years improving the efficiency of individual machines, but the next step is more complex. With tighter margins, rising energy scrutiny and flexible production schedules, the question is no longer simply whether motors and drives are efficient on paper, but whether the whole line uses energy in step with real production demand. Marek Lukaszczyk, WEG’s marketing manager for the UK and Middle East, explains. This industrial bread roll line, made by the Austrian bakery equipment manufacturer, Koenig, can produce up to 45,000 rolls per hour. It highlights how energy-aware production depends not only on efficient components, but on choosing motors, gearboxes and controls that suit hygiene requirements, production variability and the way the line actually operates. The machine incorporates low-voltage and geared motors from WEG.
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