In order to assist the green transformation of the machine tool industry, the Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builder’s Association (hereinafter referred to as TMBA) has completed the "Reference Manual for Sustainable Management of the Machine Tool Industry in Response to Carbon Reduction" in 2022, and set up the E (Environment) Committee in 2023 to continue to promote and assist its members in the calculation of carbon inventories and carbon footprints, and has organized the ISO 14064-1 Greenhouse Gas Inventory Course, which continues to assist the industry to quickly and horizontally introduce the concept of organizational carbon inventories through standardized procedures, as well as the first ISO 14067 Carbon Footprint Course for the machine tool industry in Taiwan. The ISO 14064-1 Greenhouse Gas Inventory Course has been held successively to assist the industry to quickly and horizontally introduce the concept of carbon inventory into the organization through standardized procedures, and the ISO 14067 Carbon Footprint Course was the first course for the machine tool industry in Taiwan to calculate the carbon footprint of machine tools and parts products in advance of the ministry, and in 2024, it began to promote the Product Category Rules (PCR) of machine tools, so as to assist the industry to meet the requirements of the international carbon tariffs at an early stage.
Since 2023, the Industrial Development Administration (IDA) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has been investing resources in cooperation with the TMBA through the Subsidies for low-carbon and smart upgrading and transformation of small manufacturing industries through large-scale manufacturing, and the Chinese National Federation of Industries' Carbon Neutral Alliance (NFIC), which has allowed tooling machine factories to lead component factories in promoting the organization of carbon inventories, forming the prototype of a green tooling machine supply chain, and promoting the cooperation of tooling machine factories, component factories, and end customers in reducing carbon emissions. TMBA has established a technical committee in 2020 to implement the standardization of the machine tool industry, which allows machine tool industry manufacturers to quickly introduce the ISO 14955 series of standards, including the design method of energy efficiency of tool and machine and its measurement method, just like a health checkup, so that the tool and machine manufacturers can understand the most energy-consuming components or machining processes, and assist the tool and machine manufacturers in the green transformation by using the international standards.
In recent years, TMBA has been actively promoting the green transformation of the industry, and has seen that many manufacturers have gradually developed commercialized energy-saving tooling machines and components. In order to promote Taiwan's green tooling machine products, and to allow domestic and foreign end-user customers to purchase energy-saving tooling machines or components, TMBA has taken the lead in proposing the concept of energy saving label, but taking into account the diversity of machinery and equipment, TMBA has developed its own labels that are specific to the tooling machine industry. TMBA also organized the first "Energy Saving Label for the Machine Tool Industry" in line with the theme of Green Transformation (GX) of the TMTS 2024 Taiwan International Machine Tool Show to encourage the industry to show its strength in green transformation. A total of 49 products from 28 companies participated in the evaluation, with the best of the best, including different machining forms of the machine tool, different key components, and energy-saving technologies. After the evaluation by the professional reviewers, 18 gold-colored products (including 3 components) and 29 silver-colored products were selected. These excellent energy-saving products will be exhibited at TMTS 2024, which is worthwhile for the industry to observe and learn, and the TMBA will also organize a “find gold" guide, so everyone is welcome to visit the Nangang Exhibition Hall to look for the gold-colored and silver-colored labels!
The design concept of the energy saving label: Leaves have the meaning of energy-saving and sustainability. The roots of the two leaves extend out from the top of the letter B of TMBA, symbolizing the development of a circular economy of "Builder" & "Business" based on the industrial standard "Base"; the two leaves represent the supply chain of the industry, with a piece of machine tool and a piece of accessory, and small manufacturing industries through large-scale manufacturing together transform into a green economy.
The characteristics of this energy-saving work:
1. energy-saving machine tools include saws, lathes, vertical machining centers, mill-turn machines, five-axis machines, drilling machines, grinders, and electrical discharge machines, which can satisfy a complete metal processing process.
2. Energy-saving components include key energy-consuming components such as spindles, coolers, hydraulic cylinders, servo tanks, etc. Ball screws and chip conveyors are driven by intelligent technology to reduce carbon emissions, which can assist tooling machines to effectively reduce carbon emissions.
3. Energy-saving technologies and services can reduce more carbon emissions for end customers, and there are even thoughts of reducing carbon emissions from sea and air transportation, and lowering the carbon equivalent of category 3, which shows that the domestic industry has begun to develop and optimize for the needs of customers to reduce carbon emissions.
4. Motor optimization has become an inevitable trend, many operators have changed the motors in their products to IE3/IE4 servo motors or even permanent magnet motors, and there are also inverter methods, lightweight design, software solutions, and electronic control.
5. ISO 14955 is the exclusive international standard for machine tools, and it has a good methodology. From machine design, supply chain to processing and measurement, the machine tool industry can introduce more applications to quantify the improvement benefits and make customers feel it.
6. Manufacturers can think about the extension of the organizational end to the linkage of products, and link the energy performance indicators and adjustment variables to the machine products themselves.
7. Energy-saving products can be thought of from the perspective of the life cycle, including the contribution of the product itself and the contribution to the customer, creating a win-win situation for themselves and their customers.
