Landis+Gyr’s Smart Meter Manufacturing Facility Named Second Place Winner

ATLANTA, Dec. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Landis+Gyr, the leading global provider of integrated energy management products, has been awarded second place in the mid-size industry category of Mexico's 2011 National Award for Energy Savings. The company received the award for energy efficiency improvements at its advanced electric meter manufacturing plant in Reynosa, Mexico.

The awards ceremony was presided over by Jordi Herrera, Mexico's Secretary of Energy, and Antonio Vivanco, CFE's General Director, on Dec. 1 in Mexico City. Horacio Zavala, Landis+Gyr Reynosa's Facilities Engineer and "Go Green" program leader, accepted the award on behalf of the company.

Created in 1989 by the Mexican National Commission for Energy Saving, this award is administered by CFE as a national recognition of companies that have demonstrated extraordinary efforts towards the efficient use and reduction of energy. Landis+Gyr's Reynosa facility was recognized for both its internal and external efforts to raise awareness of energy reduction, managing to save money and reduce consumption by over 5,000 kilowatt hours. Its internal efforts include:

• Installation of auto turn-off switches for lighting and production equipment, along with employee awareness programs designed to further increase energy savings.
• Improvements to facility heating and cooling systems, including roof insulation, installation of digital thermostats and using demand meters to control air conditioning units to take advantage of off-peak power periods.
• Use of energy measurement monitors and Six Sigma's DMAIC/DFSS methods to implement "go green" projects.

Landis+Gyr Reynosa employees also are working with the community to educate them about the importance of energy savings. They regularly visit local schools with Landis+Gyr's meter mascot to educate students on energy reduction and have hosted local schools in the plant to demonstrate energy reduction.

"As a company committed to managing energy better, I am proud to say that we are equally committed to managing our own energy use as we are to helping our clients manage and measure energy resources," said Aubrey Williams, Vice President of Operations at the facility. "With the help of our enthusiastic employees, we have made great strides in internal energy savings and have also helped bring awareness of the importance of energy efficiency to local schools."

The Landis+Gyr Reynosa facility is home to 630 employees, located just five miles across the McAllen, Texas border. The "maquiladora" plant operates under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) established by U.S. and Mexican governments to improve economic conditions and cross-border trade.

The plant is one of the most modern in the Landis+Gyr network, and has been certified by Measurement Canada to validate accuracy of metering products prior to shipment to Canada. More than 375,000 meters are manufactured each month in 2011 for major smart meter deployments by utilities located across North America and the Caribbean. The plant was also recognized as one of the 10 best plants in North America by IndustryWeek magazine for 2010.

The plant focuses on lean manufacturing, leadership development, supplier development and various projects aimed at reducing the facility's carbon footprint. These efforts have led to a significant increase in production of residential and commercial digital meters with minimal capital investments. The facility also maintains strong working relationships with developers of smart grid technology. More than 90 percent of the meters produced at the plant include some form of communications technology, such as the integrated Gridstream™ communications modules for smart grid networks.