What can I expect from Texas A&M University?

You can expect to receive a formal, technical report about two months after the team of staff and students visits your plant written in terms of projects that are recommended for implementation. Every project will recommend an action such as "Install power factor correction" or "Insulate bare steam pipes" and display calculations of cost savings, as well as calculations of energy or waste reductions, and productivity savings.  Every project will provide conceptual information or designs to achieve the savings, as well as an estimated implementation cost and pay back information.  You and others on your staff should be able to understand the calculations in the report.

Assessment visits typically take one day and begin about 8:00 a.m. at your facility with a discussion of your production processes and a review of the data you sent.  The initial discussion is a time of intense conferring about your production and related procedures, and usually takes about an hour and a half.  Subsequently, plant personnel lead the assessment team on a tour of the facility so that team members may observe the production process.  The assessment team pays particular attention to production activities, energy-using systems, and areas where waste is generated and stored.  After that, the students are assigned cost reduction projects to research.  In the afternoon, the students gather data to support cost savings calculations by observing operations, making measurements, and asking questions.  About 4:00 p.m. the team finishes with an exit interview with plant management and returns to Texas A&M University to prepare a formal technical report for you, which will be reviewed thoroughly by the staff leader of the assessment team.  You should receive the report about two months after the assessment visit.

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