Sustainability at Hamm
Reducing CO₂ emissions and energy consumption
Sustainability is firmly enshrined in all business areas and processes at Hamm – from Purchasing to Development and even the Spare Parts Service.
“Protecting the environment is non-negotiable for us. This applies not only to our operations as a manufacturing company, but also to our products. Further to this, our environmental management system enables us to identify further potential for improvement that will allow us to reduce our consumption of resources and energy at the site and to further reduce our environmental impact,” explains Dr. Stefan Klumpp, member of the Hamm AG Executive Board.
Accordingly, the economical use of energy and responsible use of resources form part of the company principles. Within Production, intelligent systems are at work every day to keep CO₂ emissions and energy consumption to a minimum. Furthermore, logistics are constantly being optimized to reduce CO₂ emissions and resource consumption in the supply chain.
Heating and cooling with renewable energy
Hamm has been running a geothermal energy system since as early as 2013. This heats and cools the administration building using renewable energy from the soil. Every year, Hamm saves approximately 72 metric tons of CO₂ on heating and around 14 metric tons of CO₂ on cooling systems – a total 86 metric tons of CO₂ saved. Additional measures in recent years have further reduced the energy consumed keeping offices and production halls at the right temperature.
As of 2023, Hamm has also been using solar energy generated from a system on the roof of the CTT (Training Center): There, water for the showers in the CTT social rooms is heated by the power of the sun.
Facilitating electric transport
With its newly installed charging facilities for electric vehicles in the customer parking lot, Hamm is contributing towards zero-emissions transport by expanding the charging infrastructure. Visitors can use these charge points to charge their vehicles while they visit the plant.
Charging station for electric vehicles in the visitor parking lot.
Lowering electricity consumption
In line with the principle that “the cleanest and cheapest energy is the energy you don’t use,” Hamm has also drastically reduced its electricity requirement. By switching to LED lights and adopting a more efficient approach to their use, the energy requirement for the lighting in the offices alone has been reduced by an impressive 16.5%. Over a year, that saves more than 191,000 kg in CO₂ emissions.
An energy-saving initiative in Production was focused on monitors and computers. As a result of this, computers and monitors at workstations in Production now automatically switch off when they are not required. In addition, some of the outdoor lighting has been dramatically reduced during night hours. Over the course of a year, that represents a saving of more than 33,000 kWh electricity or a 6,800 kg cut in CO₂ emissions.
LED lighting in the halls of the production plant.
Energy recuperation – not just on the test bench
The plant makes good use of the principle of energy recuperation – though in two very different areas. On the roller test bench, where every machine is put through quality testing prior to delivery, the braking energy is fed back into the electricity supply. This also happens in the ultra-modern fully automated small parts warehouse every time the brakes are applied to the transport containers.
Reclaiming braking energy at the test bench.
Energy efficiency as a learning objective
Even the Hamm trainees are introduced to the topic of saving energy from the very outset. As a result of this, our young talents identified and successfully eliminated leaks in the compressed air system as part of the “Energy transition and climate protection” SME initiative. Their success speaks for itself in terms of the reduction in energy requirement: Through these measures alone 5 metric tons of CO₂ has been prevented from entering the environment every year. Alongside these measures, the entire workforce has for many years been attending regular training courses on how to prevent the waste of materials and energy.
Logistics: Intelligent solutions instead of material transport
Hamm has already exploited the great potential for energy savings in the field of logistics. For instance, the main plant in Tirschenreuth is set up as a “short journeys plant” to minimize travel distances. This need to keep distances short was taken into account right from the design stage. For zero-emissions internal transport, Hamm is currently switching all diesel-powered forklift trucks to electric versions one by one, and uses only electrically operated vans.
A complex system of logistics using 4PL organizes and optimizes the supply of purchased parts and semi-finished products to minimize the number of empty runs involved in the supply chain. Further to this, special transport racks have been developed to transport more parts in a smaller space. This not only reduces the amount of packaging but also the number of trips needed.
Energy-saving compaction
Economical use of energy is also a guiding principle within Product Development. Hamm rollers and systems stand out from the crowd for their lower fuel consumption. All modern rollers with combustion engines can also be run on HVO instead of diesel fuel – and therefore without the use of any fossil fuels. Plus, 2022 marked the dawn of a new era with the launch of the first fully electric rollers.
Technologies such as the HAMMTRONIC machine management system, automatic engine stop, ECO mode, telematics solutions and the Smart Doc and Smart Compact assistance systems further contribute to customers saving energy and cutting emissions on construction sites around the world every day.
