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TINE SA, a Norwegian cooperative owned by farmers, has been collaborating with Norway’s farmers for over 160 years to understand their challenges and help them drive efficiency, productivity, and high-quality dairy product development. As market demands increase, so does each farmer’s need to bring products to market more efficiently. TINE has a long history of developing decision-making tools for farmers and collecting data from different dairy products at the farm level. However, as TINE considered the future of dairy production at both the farm and national level, its data science team realized there would be changes to the breadth and depth of its data sources, types of data, and data analysis capabilities available to develop decision-making tools for farmers to use in production. TINE knew it would have to change its approach to data and technology by becoming more data driven as an organization to drive better predictability of milk production and other key data points related to a cow’s health and the quality of milk produced.

Companies experiencing rapid growth often lack the bandwidth to track each line of every contract, service agreement, or legal document before it’s executed. Even in the most carefully reviewed agreements, some information is forgotten as soon as the contract is signed. Once the business has matured and due diligence projects arise (for example, when a law changes or an acquisition takes place), companies must conduct detailed reviews of all signed contracts and identify specific terms within them. LinkSquares’ founders experienced the painful reality of reviewing existing legal contracts firsthand while their previous employer underwent an acquisition. The team identified existing software solutions helping companies efficiently address the pre-signature workflow: contract creation, terms negotiation, and internal workflow. However, the industry lacked a software solution to help companies mine for information in existing contracts.

Hilton Worldwide, a global hospitality company with over 4,500 properties, faces significant utility bills, which are its second largest operational expense after labor. These costs equate to 5% of the annual revenue raised. The company is not only interested in cutting costs but also aims to be good stewards of the environment. To achieve its multifaceted efficiency and sustainability goals, Hilton sought the expertise of an energy management specialist with a global presence and comprehensive capabilities.

Nemours Children’s Hospital (NCH) in Orlando, Florida is a renowned, state-of-the-art hospital that provides care for children with the most-complex illness and diseases. The hospital is just five years old but already, families seeking world-class pediatric care have come from more than 70 different countries. For hospitals, a pure, continuous source of power in a healing environment is essential. It not only provides reliable electricity for equipment to function 24/7, it also provides staff, patients, and parents with the constant peace-of-mind necessary to maintain a successful recuperation environment. Electricity is the fuel that runs the hospital. To create the power system at Nemours, the hospital called on a team consisting of Schneider Electric EcoXpert and other technology partners. Through collaboration, innovation, and expertise, these four firms combined resources to make the Nemours vision for reliable power a reality.

The Pongola sugar mill, operated by South African food manufacturer RCL Foods, was in dire need of modernization. The proprietary system was almost 30 years old and the plant used to experience between 33 and 40 blackouts per 39-week season. The production delays became unacceptable and a drop in product quality was noticeable. RCL Foods was looking for an off-the-shelf solution that could be expanded over time and that would optimize production efficiency – a scalable system (both hardware and software) that was easy to operate and allowed for remote access. The company wanted to reuse the existing infrastructure where possible, so the new solution had to be both future-proof and backward compatible.

Austin Energy, the eighth largest community owned utility in the U.S., serves more than a million residents in and around the capital city of Texas. The utility’s mission is to convert “big data” into useful information, provide more reliable customer service, and improve energy efficiency, in part by creating a safer, stronger, more resilient power grid. The utility needed to better manage the effects of severe weather, which is the number one cause of power outages, costing the U.S. economy billions of dollars a year in lost output and wages, spoiled inventory, delayed production, inconvenience, and damage to grid infrastructure. In pursuit of its mission, and with the knowledge that an advanced distribution management system (ADMS) enables better operational decisions by integrating millions of data points into a single, simplified user experience, Austin Energy chose Schneider Electric to implement an ADMS.

The Ruiping Power Plant, a China-based electricity supplier in Henan province, was tasked with meeting China’s demanding national energy-saving and emission-reduction targets. The management team at Ruiping Power wanted to have the ability of seeing, measuring, and managing energy usage across the entire power plant. They were looking for a reliable partner that could provide an end-to-end solution for managing the utility’s energy usage and reduce costs. The team selected Schneider Electric as their partner of choice to take on the full responsibility of process and energy management.

SICAE Somme & Cambraisis, one of France’s regional electrical utilities, was facing the challenge of optimizing grid management in the face of increasing renewable energy sources and the upcoming installation of Linky smart meters. The utility needed to manage a reliable grid that optimized the use of wind energy and met network stability requirements. They were looking for a partner that could help them implement the latest smart grid technology. The utility was also aware of the potential offered by digitization and was the first French utility to deploy Schneider Electric's advanced distribution management system (ADMS).

China Unicom is expanding beyond telecommunications, establishing itself in integrated cloud computing and network connection services. Their plan is to build 12 super-scale cloud data centers and 335 regional data centers throughout China, covering 196 regions and cities. The overall area of these data centers is more than 2 million square meters, containing more than 320,000 racks and with network connection bandwidth of 60T. However, they faced challenges such as insufficient infrastructure support, limited service categories, and scale — inefficient supply chain and immature business models. Perhaps the biggest challenge they faced was the low efficiency of their IT infrastructure operations, putting their goal of running at full capacity 24/7, in the near future, at great risk.

Green Mountain, a data center located in Norway, aimed to establish itself as one of the most efficient data centers in the world with a Power Utilization Efficiency (PUE) rating of 1.2. The data center, co-developed by Smedvig, Ergogroup, and Lyse Energi, is located deep inside a mountain and abuts a cold water fjord. The challenge was to power the data center with cheap, reliable, low carbon hydropower and cool it with seawater from the nearby fjord, using gravity as a key factor in the distribution of that cold water to the data center. The goal was to build a zero emissions data center cooled by gravity-enabled sea water distribution and powered exclusively on renewable energies.

Samsung SDI, a global leader in the energy industry, was facing challenges with its power supply. Due to South Korea's centralized power supply systems and geographical nature, long-distance transmission was inevitable. This led to voltage drops causing factory shutdowns about 3 to 4 times a year. Power outages would suspend the running of manufacturing facilities, which could be critical to supply lines of various hazardous materials such as chemicals. It not only took a considerable amount of time to recover the situation but also interrupted manufacturing. Samsung SDI needed equipment that enables reliable power supply. Another challenge was the need for cost reduction. An input voltage of 154,000 V at a production facility causes an instantaneous voltage drop for 10 ms to 50 ms. Most of the machines that read data within 50 ms cost about tens of millions to tens of billions of dollars. Samsung SDI was in need of a UPS that is flexibly-transformable based on on-site conditions, installable into a limited space, and scalable.

Digital Realty, a global data center partner, is trusted with the mission-critical architectures of some of the top companies in social media, financial services, and health care. As the company continues to increase its footprint, it is of critical importance that everything from system architecture to end-user reporting be consistent across all sites. Employing non-standard solutions from site to site leads to operational inefficiencies and inflated costs. With such a diverse portfolio of customers, standardizing operations globally is a must. They currently provide colocation data center services to a diverse base of US and international companies of all sizes in financial services, cloud and information technology, manufacturing, energy, gaming, life sciences, and consumer products. Its 170 data centers serve more than 2,300 customers in 33 metro markets, across 4 continents. They are poised for quick expansion across Europe and Asia-Pacific, and building a consistent infrastructure will be the key to success.

Interxion, a leader in the highly competitive colocation market, is facing the challenge of evolving data centers. These are no longer just data storage facilities but gateways to emerging markets and platforms for business expansion. This evolution requires the deployment of secure IT platforms capable of handling a large amount of real-time data. Interxion needs to provide greater connectivity, more redundancy and power, while aligning with today's environmental and security norms. They also need to stay ahead of the digital curve by providing custom solutions that allow their customers to reach deeper into emerging markets and remain relevant in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

The Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA), the administrator of the state’s pension fund, operates a state-of-the-art colocation data center facility. The facility's ability to attract clients is dependent upon a solid reputation for maintaining system uptime. RSA staff wanted to make absolutely certain that the facility housed the most resilient power and cooling infrastructure available. They decided to turn to Schneider Electric, not only to provide the necessary hardware, but to also deploy IoT enabled architecture EcoStruxureTM IT to support the deployment of cloud-based monitoring tools. The 44,000 square foot colocation facility hosts a diverse group of customers that includes hospitals and universities from across Alabama, TV stations, courthouses and government services from across the state and even Emergency 911 services, uptime and visibility to data center assets have emerged as top priorities for RSA.

Grand Medica, a multi-profile medical center in Novokuznetsk, Siberia, Russian Federation, was created within an existing building that was not originally designed to be a hospital. The project had a tight, 20-month deadline, and the building presented some challenging spatial issues. The design and construction teams wanted an effective, integrated system that covered all the needs of a healthcare facility and would prove flexible enough to support future upgrades and modernization. They also prioritized reliable power and technology that would be flexible and scalable as the facility grew.

Maison Manival, a traditional French bakery located in the heart of the French Alps, was facing the challenge of maintaining the high standards of traditional craftsmanship while ensuring the smooth operation of their modern tools and equipment. The bakery heavily relies on electrical equipment such as ovens and refrigerators. Any electrical failure, such as an overnight power cut to a fridge full of fresh ingredients or baked goods, could result in considerable loss. The founder of Maison Manival wanted to create an efficient environment where artisan bakers could work with greater peace of mind and efficiency. The challenge was to introduce innovation while preserving the tradition of French bakeries.

Geneva Airport, the second-largest airport in Switzerland, has been experiencing an influx of passengers, necessitating its expansion. With only one runway, it serves 15 million passengers annually, a number expected to rise to over 25 million by 2030. This increase in traffic makes it essential to preserve the quality of the passenger experience at the airport. To accommodate its growing demand, Geneva Airport has been upgrading its infrastructure and renovating its terminals, cargo holds, and hangers. Alongside, the airport is improving its electrical distribution system. However, electrical renovation can create disruption, which can be critical in an airport as it not only creates delays for passengers but also impacts cargo and emergency operations where downtime is not an option.

The Redfern Substation, a critical part of the Sydney Trains network, was running on aging equipment that needed to be upgraded. The substation, built in 1970, had limited space available for upgrades. The location of the switch room was directly above a platform at a critical station on the Sydney Trains Network, meaning any work would impact the schedule of regular commuter trains. The upgrade needed to be completed within a three-day period, making the logistics for an upgrade even more challenging.

Sinopec Hainan Petrochemical needed to digitize its processes to improve the plant’s operation and maintenance levels. Prior to that, projects often deployed control systems from different vendors which was not conducive to the efficient development, maintenance, management, and upgrade of the systems, and made digital operation and maintenance scenarios, such as centralized monitoring of all field data, seem out of reach. Nowadays, cost along with operational and maintenance considerations have led companies to prefer integrated bidding for joint installations. This was the case with Hainan Refining & Chemical and the reason that they looked for a main automation system supplier with strong engineering capabilities and a complete DCS, supported by a safety system.

ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel producer, was facing issues with its aging electrical installation at its Train 2 facility in Belval, Luxembourg. The company was looking for solutions to reduce downtime risks, improve safety, and enable energy monitoring. It also wanted to modernize its MV power network in line with its sustainability commitments. The project included retrofitting unused but outdated MV switchgear and disposal of old parts in compliance with environmental regulations.

Bolloré Logistics, a French logistics giant, is a strong advocate for sustainability and has rolled out its 'Powering Sustainable Logistics' program in 2018. The program aims to reduce the environmental impact of Bolloré Logistics’ activities. As part of this initiative, Bolloré Logistics built the Blue Hub, a green building equipped with an advanced energy management system and other eco-friendly features. However, achieving tangible sustainability benchmarks required to obtain environmental certifications such as Green Mark & LEED was a challenge. The company needed a solution that would help them reduce their carbon footprint and make their operations more energy-efficient.With the effects of global warming felt worldwide, companies around the globe have been trying their best to reduce their carbon footprint. The logistics industry has also followed suit, environmentally friendly packaging and carbon emission reduction of freight shipping are the many ways employed as part of its efforts to go green. Bolloré Logistics wanted to go the extra mile by ensuring that Blue Hub is energy-efficient.

The Shedd Aquarium, a national historic landmark in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., first opened its doors to visitors in 1930. Today almost 2 million guests visit this national historic landmark annually. The aquatic environments in the original aquarium contain more than 1.5 million gallons of water, including a 90,000-gallon exhibit created in 1971 to reproduce a Caribbean coral reef. Over the years the aquarium has undergone expansions to accommodate other large exhibits, more than doubling its original size to cover 422,000 square feet. A facility this size has multiple challenges with regard to energy use in maintaining diverse environments for visitors, staff, and more than 32,500 aquatic animals. In 2013, decision-makers committed to an ambitious goal of cutting the aquarium’s energy consumption in half by 2020. This commitment to sustainability extends into every part of Shedd Aquarium — from water-conserving exhibits and energy-efficient lighting to green gardens and the food its inhabitants eat.

The Renaissance Suzhou Wujiang Hotel, located at the borders of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, is the only internationally branded hotel in the area. It provides business travelers, families, couples, and discerning locals with modern and stylish accommodations and expansive and sophisticated event spaces for weddings, corporate functions, and other special events. The hotel must consistently exceed their guests’ high expectations for comfort, ambiance, and safety. As a Marriott International property, the hotel must also manage construction and ongoing expenses, and meet annual energy savings goals. The challenge was to maintain an exceptional guest experience while reducing energy costs through improved efficiency.

Carrefour Egypt, a leading mega-retailer, operates in a highly competitive retail market. To differentiate itself, the company focuses on customer satisfaction by improving quality, choice, and prices. As part of its strategy, Carrefour Egypt is committed to sustainable business practices. Jean-Luc Graziato, the country head for Carrefour Egypt at Majid Al Futtaim Retail, implemented a project to reduce power consumption and ensure uptime in about half of all Carrefour stores. The key goals included measuring energy consumption across stores to identify high- and low-performing stores, using insights from energy dashboards and performance reports to continually optimize power usage, ensuring protection against downtime threats, such as equipment malfunctions or power outages, via timely notifications, and maximizing uptime for power, lighting, ovens, refrigerators, and other business-critical assets.

Berto Coffee Roaster, a leading company in Indonesia’s food processing sector, recognized a huge opportunity in the local coffee industry and decided to focus on building high-quality coffee roasting machines. However, their existing roasting machine was manually controlled and required a skilled operator to check every step, resulting in a lot of wasted time in the production process. With the arrival of Industry 4.0, the market demanded a fully automated coffee roaster that required minimal operation and low maintenance costs while also increasing production output, quality, and consistency. It became critical for Berto Coffee Roaster to add more value to their roasting machines designed for the export market.

Wilmar Sugar Australia, the country's leading manufacturer of raw sugar, operates eight sugar mills in Queensland. The company crushes about 15.5 million tonnes of sugarcane each year, producing more than two million tonnes of raw sugar. Wilmar is also Australia’s leading producer of renewable energy from biomass. The company's Invicta Mill, one of Australia's largest sugar mills, required a major upgrade of its boiler control system to ensure the ongoing safety and reliability of the site’s power production capabilities. The existing boiler control system equipment was reaching its end of life and required replacing. An upgrade was planned to simplify the control systems and embed safety procedures into the system, itself. The ideal solution was a control system that would enable Wilmar to have a complete view of all the factory’s systems in one easy-to-use interface.

Veolia Water Technologies, a global provider of water and wastewater services and solutions, was contracted to build a water treatment facility on the Sorrento coast, Italy. The situation was serious as more than half of the population was discharging waste directly into the sea, and the other half into a treatment facility that did not comply with regulations. These challenges drove Veolia to design a state-of-the-art solution for their plant at Punta Gradelle. With sustainability being one of their key values, Veolia’s plan was not only to treat wastewater, but to also do it sustainably, reusing the recovered material for industrial and irrigation purposes. To realize these ambitions, they needed an advanced supervision system that could provide insights for efficient management across the facility as well as individual operating units.

Enel, Italy’s largest power company and Europe’s second listed utility for installed generation capacity, recognized the need for an advanced distribution management system. However, they lacked the internal resources necessary to create mathematical algorithms to enhance distribution management. In the past, some employees tried inventing solutions, but without an adequate technical background it held no scientific value. Their employees were spending too many resources trying to create a solution without solid analysis. Without the analysis, the data meant nothing.

E.ON, the largest energy distribution network in Sweden, is committed to improving its service level, minimizing network interruptions, and ensuring a reliable, continuous power supply. The company is also focused on making energy distribution more environmentally friendly while maintaining high efficiency and reliability. E.ON's sustainability objectives include becoming fossil fuel-free by 2025 and reducing the risk of greenhouse gas emissions. To move towards a more sustainable, greener distribution network, E.ON decided to explore the possibility of replacing their SF6 gas-insulated switchgear with a more environmentally friendly, SF6-free technology. The new solution needed to comply with the energy transition happening in Sweden, ensure greater personnel safety, and be interoperable with existing equipment.

GreenAlp, the electric distribution network operator in Grenoble, France, serves over 120,000 customers, including residential and electro-intensive industrial customers. The company is committed to being green and innovative, but as a mid-size electrical company, it does not have the capacity for its own research center. It relies on local actors and advancements in the industry. GreenAlp has 6 main electrical substations of 225,000 volts or 63,000 volts which transform into 20,000 volts and especially 750 MV/LV substations. These MV/LV substations have aging equipment that constantly needs renewing. One of GreenAlp’s aims for this project is to learn how it can renew its existing switchgear in the future. Service continuity has been one of GreenAlp’s main challenges. It needs real-time knowledge of the network, which can be challenging.