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Chew’s Agriculture Singapore gets energy efficiency boost

Published by Schneider Electric

Nov. 2, 2022

How Singapore’s leading egg producer uses EcoStruxure™ to boost operational resilience and improve business efficiency.

Securing a city’s food future

EcoStruxure Power, Schneider Electric’s IoT-enabled architecture, helps farms thrive at every level through Connected Products, Edge Control, Apps, Analytics and Services.

A new challenge and a natural choice

In 2019, Singapore introduced “30 by 30” — a vision that, by 2030, at least 30 per cent of the country’s food will be produced locally. It is transforming from a “garden city” to “a city in a garden”. Greener, cleaner, and more self-reliant, a vision like this can’t be realised without businesses like Chew’s Agriculture.

Founded in 1987, Chew’s is one of the country’s leading egg producers, delivering some 800,000 fresh, high-quality eggs to wholesalers daily. To satisfy the nation’s increasing appetite for local goods and better position itself for future growth, Chew’s Agriculture relocated from its old premises in Lim Chu Kang to a new site in Kranji. But this new site came with a fresh challenge — the electrical distribution network was far from the main substation.

Concerns that an inconsistent power supply would disrupt ventilation, feed, and waste management, which in turn could affect the chickens’ well-being, egg supply, and overall business were top of mind. “We were very worried that we might even face the loss of chicken lives,” explains Chew Zi Xuan, Assistant Manager of Operations at the farm. That’s why ensuring resilient, reliable operations post-relocation was critical.

Through generations, they’ve grown by adopting the latest technologies. This time, for their facilities’ upgrade, they “were looking for a digital solution partner with longstanding expertise in the market and quality after-sales support,” for which “Schneider Electric was a natural choice,” said Chew.

From stability to sustainability

First on the agenda was adding stability to the power supply. Schneider designed, integrated, tested, and delivered an Electrical House (E-House). A complete and compact power distribution substation, the E-House is customised with connected products and reliable equipment including medium voltage switchgear, motor control centres, transformers, and building management and control systems. Mobile, scalable, and quick-to-deploy, the solution aims to simplify the farm’s future expansion plans.

For further operational resilience, EcoStruxure Asset Advisor was deployed. Schneider’s Asset Advisor collects data 24/7 from connected products and applies advanced analytics to identify potential problems. Chews’ team is alerted to any real-time issues on smartphones and tablets.

As a result, proactive maintenance is possible; fixes can be made before safety or operations are impacted. And while Schneider’s Service Bureau can always assist, remote access to the on-site power system gives Chew’s the option to act independently

PowerTag is one of the wireless sensors connected to Asset Advisor. It accurately monitors and measures energy use in real-time. The data it collects is integrated into a centralised dashboard that helps compare and inform decision-making and alerts the team of sudden power losses or potential overload threats.

With Schneider’s solutions, Chew’s saw its maintenance time go down by 10 per cent and achieved an operational cost saving of about 25 per cent within a year. “We now enjoy less downtime, reduced maintenance time, and can redeploy manpower to other business functions,” noted Chew. “Our new and improved power system helps us provide a nurturing environment for our chickens and bring our high-quality eggs to the hands of our customers.”

Hatching a carbon-neutral future

Chew’s new site is set to supply more eggs to the city; up to one million per day is the near-term plan. And Schneider’s future-ready, scalable solutions allow for this expansion.

Alongside enjoying added energy efficiency from EcoStruxure, Chew’s will be working with Neo Tiew Power, a waste-to-energy plant. Soon enough, the farm’s electricity will also come from chicken manure — further supporting carbon neutrality ambitions.

Together with Schneider Electric, Chew’s Agriculture proudly and robustly supports Singapore’s sustainability efforts in both food and energy.

“We now enjoy less downtime, reduced maintenance time, and can redeploy manpower to other business functions. Our new and improved power system helps us provide a nurturing environment for our chickens and bring our high-quality eggs to the hands of our customers.” — Chew Zi Xuan, Assistant Manager of Operations at Chew’s Agriculture.

IoT-enabled Solutions that drive Operational, Energy Efficiency

EcoStruxure™ is Schneider Electric’s open, interoperable, IoT-enabled system architecture and platform. It delivers enhanced value around our customers’ safety, reliability, efficiency, sustainability, and connectivity.

EcoStruxure™ leverages advancements in IoT, mobility, sensing, cloud, analytics, and cybersecurity to deliver Innovation at Every Level including Connected Products, Edge Control, Apps, Analytics & Services. It has been deployed in 480,000+ sites, with the support of 45,000+ system integrators and developers, connecting over 1.6 million assets under management through 40+ digital services. Read the full story on Chew’s Agriculture.

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About Schneider Electric

Schneider’s purpose is to empower all to make the most of our energy and resources, bridging progress and sustainability for all. We call this Life Is On.

Our mission is to be your digital partner for Sustainability and Efficiency.

We drive digital transformation by integrating world-leading process and energy technologies, end-point to cloud connecting products, controls, software and services, across the entire lifecycle, enabling integrated company management, for homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure and industries.

We are the most local of global companies. We are advocates of open standards and partnership ecosystems that are passionate about our shared Meaningful Purpose, Inclusive and Empowered values. Find out more at se.com/sg.

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