Manufacturing

How to apply LED lighting for efficient and productive manufacturing plants and production factories.

How to apply LED lighting for efficient and productive manufacturing plants and production factories.

Good lighting always stems from the end use of the space and the people within. Manufacturing areas can range from vast production areas filled with automated production lines or smaller workstations for assembly and more detailed tasks, to meeting and workshop rooms.

In all these spaces, good visibility is essential to carry out tasks effectively and without errors. It is vital to be able to carry out work steps, read instructions and labels correctly. Mistaking a “3” for an “8” on a label could mean the shutdown of a line or a customer receiving an incorrect item.

Ideally a minimum uniformity of 0.45 together with a glare index less than 28 is recommended*. Increasingly as manufacturing processes and requirements evolve, we are starting to see trends towards personalised lighting and a growing awareness and desire for lighting to support an individual’s natural circadian rhythm. Choosing the right colour temperature can help to prevent fatigue, stimulate and heighten our alertness, which could be a benefit for night-shift workers and spaces where there is limited natural daylight.

*For further lighting design guidelines and recommendations, please refer to the European Standard EN 12464-1 Light and lighting – Lighting of work places – Part 1 : Indoor work places and CIE recommended limiting glare indices.

Questions to consider when choosing the right luminaire for manufacturing spaces include:

• Does the luminaire help you to minimise glare and comply with the recommended UGR guidelines?
• When and for how long does the facility require lighting? Does the luminaire have a good lm/w efficacy rating and low power consumption as this will help to lower your energy bills, cut C02 emissions and reach your efficiency targets.
• If access and maintenance is difficult, what measures are included within the luminaire design to help with lowering the maintenance effort?
• Is there enough variety within the range to allow you to use different sizes and colour temperatures in different areas whilst keeping a design aesthetic?
• How much natural daylight is available, could you optimise the installation and achieve further energy savings with sensors and controls? Installing a PIR can help achieve up to 90% savings.