A new carbon footprint calculator for metal polishing is the result of an exciting tie-up between industry and academia. Professional Polishing Services (PPS), which has created three new jobs in the past 12 months, has tapped into funding and advice from the University of Birmingham’s ATETA programme to develop a digital process that will help it identify thousands of pounds of savings on energy costs.

The project involved mapping out manufacturing flows and installing high-end data logging sensors in key places to monitor the real-time power consumption of industrial equipment.
Notably, the equation takes account of several variables, including type of material and speed of job, to provide robust calculations that work out carbon footprint and identify potential savings.

The West Bromwich-based company is not looking to keep this IP to itself. Instead, PPS is planning to roll-out the calculator to the rest of the finishing sector in a bid to help industry move towards net zero.

Kirsty Davies-Chinnock, managing director of PPS, says: “Our bespoke stainless steel and non-ferrous polishing services are energy-intensive, so it made perfect sense to look at how we could monitor costs, especially with prices going through the roof. We now have a carbon calculator that can instantly work out the footprint of each job we put on our lines, which is fantastic information to have. It gives our production team the opportunity to look at how we save energy, making us more competitive in the process. The next step will be to roll this out to the rest of our sector and we’re already talking to the university and our competitors to see exactly how we do this.”
For further information www.professionalpolishing.co.uk