Siam Industrial Wire Co is among Thailand's first manufacturing companies to receive energy management certification from the Management System Certification Institute. The interior of Siam Industrial Wire's plant that uses a translucent roof to save money and energy on lighting.

SIW is Thailand's largest producer of high tensile pre stressed concrete steel wire and strands with annual output of 200,000 tonnes. It is also wholly owned by India's giant business conglomerate, TATA Steel Group, through a wholly owned subsidiary Nat Steel Holding.

In December 2010, the company, headed by managing director Mr Yeoh Choon Kwee, set up a policy for energy management with the goal of achieving this standard by March 2011.

Mr Nipon Nunsurakij, production department manager, said that "Because my boss used to be an engineer, he knew managing costs through energy management is viable. This will benefit not only the company but also help the environment."

SIW trained its staff on how to manage energy efficiently and had to change some equipment. The factory's roof was made translucent to save energy on lighting. It changed cooling towers during the production process for higher efficiency. Use of electric fans was decreased and the lighting system was changed. It modified its air conditioner to use a cool recovery process to save energy.

SIW has spent over THB 15 million since starting this program. It could save nearly THB 6 million a year on energy costs. The company is adding another energy saving project by using high efficiency boilers for production.

Mr Yeoh said that the company aimed to be a good corporate citizen in the global market because energy consumption has costs for the environment.

MASCI (Thailand) president Mr Santhi Kanoktanaporn said that ISO 50001:2011 is expected to become popular in the manufacturing sector because of environmental concerns. It projects over 100 firms will apply for the new energy management standard over next several years.

(Sourced from www.bangkokpost.com)