NRM Success Story
National Beer Distributor
Multiple Locations Across USA
This National Beer Distributor not only greatly improved the efficiency of their refrigeration system, but they also gained new capabilities to better manage its operation. NRM provided a full-service solution they now can't live without.
What They Needed
One of the leading beer distributors in the nation has made it a point over the past few years to cut costs while simultaneously improving the efficiency of the various systems on which they rely daily. It was important to them to set and meet aggressive sustainability goals.
Naturally, they investigated whether their refrigerated warehouses could be optimized in a similar way. When they conducted their corporate financial analysis, they found that the refrigeration equipment was the “highest-cost-per-square-foot-expense.”
They also desired a solution that provided multiple benefits beyond just simple energy savings (although energy savings was what made it a no-brainer decision). For example, their EMS provided critical insight into many of the other systems, but they lacked visibility into and control of the refrigeration.
WHAT NRM PROVIDED
NRM was able to deliver on each item on this distributor’s wish list. For starters, their energy savings have exceeded what was originally projected through NRM’s assessment. This was achieved through the implementation of customized lead-lag operating schedules, equipment supervision, air flow management, and NRM’s award-winning smart controls, CoolTrol®. Equipment runtimes were drastically reduced without compromising temperature requirements and product integrity, and they noted over a 35% reduction in the refrigeration’s operating costs, while at the same time keeping service calls to a minimum.
The solution also provides crucial performance data that they simply had no way of accessing before. Through the Remote Site Manager™ dashboard, they’re able to view the operating statistics of how their systems are running in real-time. This created a better way to support the efforts of their refrigeration technicians in addressing potential issues before they become emergencies. They went from reactive to proactive in handling refrigeration issues.
Another benefit they’ve seen since implementing NRM’s solution is the peace of mind it has instilled in their suppliers. Remote Site Manager™ delivers timely, actionable alerts, and it also tracks, logs, and collates temperature and operational data that is available for further review and analysis. It has essentially removed the human-error element from product safety.
Industry
Beer Distribution
Locations
9 Facilities Across USA
- 2 Mid-Atlantic
- 2 Southeast
- 2 Midwest
- 3 West Coast
Implemented Measures
- CoolTrol refrigeration controls
- Remote Site Manager
- Smart Electric Defrost
Average Project Payback
18 Months
Annual Energy Savings
1,250,000 kWh (combined)
Annual Dollar Savings
$155,000 (combined)
"We’ve been able to address issues better and faster since implementing Remote Site Manager. It’s great to be able to determine the actual source of a performance issue instead of relying on the shotgun approach. Not to mention, I’m made aware of any potential problems immediately—regardless of where I am or what time of day it is—because I can log onto the platform from my smart phone."
— Victor, Facilities Manager
Avoid food safety crises with a wealth of operational data and proactive insights
Whether you have 1 cold space in a single school kitchen, or 100 cold spaces spread across an entire district, our live summary page gives you an immediate overview of all your cooling activity.
Quickly consult current and 7-day runtimes, cooling status, temperature settings, and address any alarms that have been triggered.
Consider the amount of time and effort you’d save by having critical operational info all conveniently in one place.
Arm yourself with powerful and unique visual diagnostics graphs to pinpoint exactly when and where an operating issue arises. Troubleshooting becomes more efficient and effective, helping to ensure the issue is resolved on the first technician visit.
The graphs show important but often overlooked components such as amperages, compressor cycles, the solenoid valve, and things like whether a door is open or not.
The monitoring platform offers transparent runtime and temperature data that provide the measurement and verification proof for accurate recordkeeping.
These graphs also allow you to actually see how much less energy your refrigeration system is using. While also tracking that safe temperatures are always met.
Store up to 10 years of operational logs that take the human-error component out of tracking temperatures.
Going beyond a high temperature alert — which occurs only after an issue has already disrupted operations — NRM’s platform provides a suite of early detection notifications to help you be more proactive with troubleshooting.
For example, a compressor that’s short cycling will still likely be able to cool the space, but it’s dangerous, unnoticed overuse could lead to a critical system failure, jeopardizing the entire cooler’s worth of food.