FourJaw, which provides plug-and-play manufacturing analytics for real-time machine monitoring, estimates that factories lost up to £408 million in 2025 by leaving machines idling during non-operational hours.
Drawing on machine monitoring data and figures from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, FourJaw calculates that idle machinery wastes as much as 1.8 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity annually, equivalent to 1.8 billion kilowatt-hours. This represents around 0.64 per cent of total UK electricity consumption and enough energy to power approximately 500,000 homes for a year, the company said.
The analysis suggests that the issue is most prevalent among the UK’s 180,000 small and medium-sized manufacturers operating single-shift schedules without formal switch-off policies. With UK manufacturers paying roughly twice the EU average for electricity, the financial impact is significant. FourJaw estimates that the sector will spend £14.7 billion on electricity in 2025, with more than half of that powering production machinery.
“Traditionally, manufacturers left machines idling off-shift because they considered it better than powering them off and on again. This approach is wasteful when applied to all machinery, particularly given high energy costs now," Chris Iveson, CEO of FourJaw Manufacturing Analytics, said in a statement.
“Most large manufacturers have implemented systems to monitor machine-level consumption that allow them to compare the cost of a warm-up run with several hours of idling and take the most cost-effective and sustainable course of action.
“But it is SME manufacturers running single-shift operations that have most to gain from powering down machinery when not in use. Idling energy use may seem small, but at a typical 50 kWh per machine per week in a single-shift factory, that’s £450 in unnecessary spend per machine per year."
New regulations requiring manufacturers to calculate per-unit carbon emissions are accelerating the adoption of machine-level productivity and energy data. According to Iveson, this data is increasingly being used to inform off-shift management strategies, delivering both cost savings and sustainability benefits.
As energy prices remain high and environmental compliance pressures grow, FourJaw’s findings highlight an opportunity for manufacturers to reduce costs and emissions. Implementing structured switch-off policies and leveraging real-time machine data could help SMEs in particular unlock significant savings while supporting the sector’s transition to more sustainable operations.
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