Energy is one of the biggest overheads in manufacturing, and the way it’s managed can directly affect profitability, resilience, and competitiveness. Rising prices, tighter supply chains, and net zero commitments have made visibility and control a board-level issue.
An Energy Management System (EMS) should provide that visibility, but many manufacturers find their systems don’t deliver the depth of insight needed to cut waste or meet compliance requirements. With Phase 3 of the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) now closed and Phase 4 already underway, manufacturers are under continued pressure to monitor, report, and reduce their energy use.
Here are five signs your system might not be doing enough.
1. It only shows your total usage
A single consumption figure for a whole site won’t tell you where problems are occurring. Manufacturers running multiple lines or using heavy machinery such as compressors and kilns need to see usage broken down by process, shift, or even by the circuit. Granular, circuit-level data makes it easier to pinpoint anomalies and spot where energy is being wasted.
Ask your provider: Can you drill into machine-level or shift-level usage, or are you limited to site-wide totals?
2. The data isn’t live
If data is only available days later, teams are left reviewing history instead of tackling issues as they happen. For factories with fluctuating demand, that can mean missing the chance to shut down idle equipment or address sudden spikes in load.
Modern EMS platforms can deliver near real-time or same-day updates, giving managers the opportunity to intervene before excess cost is locked in.
Ask your provider: Does the system give you live or same-day data, or are you looking at yesterday’s performance?
3. There are no automated alerts
Energy managers can’t constantly monitor dashboards. Without automated alerts, problems often go unnoticed until bills arrive. Customisable notifications highlight abnormal consumption so that teams can act quickly.
Some platforms also allow remote control of equipment, which can be useful for managing out-of-hours usage.
Ask your provider: Does the system flag anomalies automatically, or are issues only found during manual checks?
4. Usage isn’t linked to cost or carbon
Kilowatt-hours are useful for engineers, but less so for finance or sustainability teams. An EMS that converts usage into cost and carbon makes the data relevant to the whole business. With ESOS action plans requiring progress updates, presenting usage in financial and carbon terms helps ensure every department understands its role in reducing consumption.
Ask your provider: Can the system show performance in £ and CO₂e as well as kWh?
5. It isn’t engaging the wider team
If the system is overly technical or hard to navigate, engagement will be limited to a small group of specialists. A good EMS should be straightforward to use and accessible to people outside of energy or facilities teams. Clear visuals, mobile access, and simple reporting make it easier for production managers, finance leaders, and operations staff to integrate energy awareness into day-to-day decisions.
Ask your provider: Is the platform user-friendly enough to encourage wider adoption?
Moving from monitoring to management
Energy monitoring is no longer just about oversight. In 2025, it underpins compliance, shapes board-level reporting, and directly affects margins. The UK EMS market is valued at roughly £2.3 billion and is forecast to grow by more than 11% a year through to 2030, showing how central this technology has become to industrial performance.
For manufacturers, the right EMS should provide detailed, actionable data that supports both compliance and efficiency goals. The question to ask is not simply whether you have an EMS in place, but whether it delivers the insight needed to manage energy effectively in today’s environment.
Many manufacturers are now reviewing whether their EMS delivers the level of insight needed for Phase 4 of ESOS, cost control, and net zero planning. To explore how data-led monitoring works in practice, you can access a free demo of Tritility’s Energy Metrics platform here: https://info.tritility.com/energy-metrics-demo
Alex Barker, Energy Management Project Lead at Tritility
Alex Barker leads Tritility’s Energy Management projects, working with UK manufacturers to turn energy data into meaningful action. With expertise spanning ESOS compliance, carbon reporting, and circuit-level monitoring, he helps businesses uncover efficiencies that cut costs and support net zero ambitions. Alex regularly advises senior decision-makers on how energy management systems can move beyond reporting to become drivers of resilience and competitiveness across the manufacturing sector.
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