Energy management system for industry

Energy management software: from measuring to controlling in 8 weeks — with your existing equipment

The electricity bill arrives every month — and you never know in advance whether it will be €50,000 or €80,000. A single missed load peak drives your grid fees up for twelve months. eco2lot is the energy management software for industry that makes this risk visible — and intervenes automatically before the peak occurs. Proof of concept in 4–8 weeks at a fixed price, on the equipment you already run.

  • Peak shaving & load management — typically 10–20% lower grid fees
  • ISO 50001 audit-ready in 4 weeks — proven with multi-site food manufacturers
  • Vendor-independent — connects your existing meters, PLCs, ERP, and MES

In use at: Food industry · Metal processing · Packaging · Municipal utilities

Quick inquiry — response in under 4 hours

Andreas Babel or one of our experts will get back to you personally within 4 business hours. Required fields are just name, email, and company — the topic focus helps us prepare.

Prefer to talk directly? +49 89 413 291 000

eco2lot dashboard: real-time load profile, KPIs, and active control strategies — in one interface.

15+
Years of industrial experience
500+
Interfaces integrated
TOP 100
Innovator 2026
ISO 50001
Audit-ready
Basics & bonus

What industrial energy management software must deliver today — and what you gain along the way

For manufacturing companies in Germany, energy is now the second- or third-largest cost block after materials and labor. Electricity costs have risen by more than 60% since 2021, grid fees keep growing, and the Energy Efficiency Act (EnEfG, Germany's energy efficiency law) obliges companies above 7.5 GWh annual consumption to introduce a certified energy management system.

Operational energy management is therefore a hard competitive factor and a legal obligation — well beyond a sustainability exercise. The central question: "How fast do we get from manual Excel evaluation to a platform that controls?"

+60% Electricity prices
since 2021
7.5 GWh EnEfG threshold
per year
€80–200 Grid fees
per kW & year
Quick definition

Active energy management is the real-time control of energy flows in manufacturing plants — software that goes beyond measuring and visualizing and automatically intervenes in equipment.

Three properties make the difference: Real time · Intervention · Automation. You decide the strategy — the software executes it to the second, around the clock.

Just seeing

Energy monitoring

Makes consumption visible — while every decision still happens manually, made by you.

Seeing + controlling

Energy management system (EMS)

eco2lot actively intervenes in equipment. The platform decides to the second — you steer the strategy.

How eco2lot does it

Four layers — from sensor to equipment action

  1. 01 Foundation Capture measurement data
  2. 02 Data Layer Energy data management
  3. 03 Intelligence Calculation & forecasting
  4. 04 Action Layer Automatic interventions
Bonus on top

ISO 50001? Comes along for free.

You use eco2lot to shave load peaks and optimize self-consumption. ISO 50001:2018 certification simply runs alongside. Audit preparation turns from an Excel marathon into a routine task. Three clear advantages you take away as a welcome side effect:

  • Audit reports at the push of a button

    You see all relevant energy media — electricity, gas, compressed air, steam, cooling, water, process gases — converge automatically. SEUSignificant Energy Use — significant energy consumption under ISO 50001 that is specifically measured and monitored. assignment, EnPIsEnergy Performance Indicator — an energy-related KPI such as kWh per tonne of product. against baseline, and versioning come at the push of a button. Your auditor sees in minutes what used to take weeks.

  • Three hours per week back

    That is how much Excel time your shop-floor supervisors save every week — time that previously went into manual data consolidation. With eco2lot, you spend that time on real energy optimization instead of spreadsheet maintenance.

  • Tax relief + BAFA funding

    With ISO 50001 certification you secure tax relief under §55 of Germany's Electricity and Energy Tax Act (the "Spitzenausgleich" peak compensation scheme) and access to BAFA funding programs. This financial bonus often pays off within the first year.

What you can skip. A separate standards project, hand-maintained Excel templates, an auditor flying back and forth between four plants — all of that becomes unnecessary. The building blocks of the standard emerge where you already work: on the platform.
Four levers in energy management

Four levers where energy management software saves money

What eco2lot does operationally — swipe through the four levers or jump straight to your topic.

⚡ Lever 1 of 4

Peak shaving — cap load peaks automatically

Typical result 10–20% lower grid fees in the first year
LOAD (kW) 24 H Peak limit missed peak without control with eco2lot

The problem. One 15-minute peak costs up to €200/kW in grid fees per year. A single missed peak drives the grid-fee multiplier up for twelve months — at 500 kW peak, that is up to €100,000 on the next bill.

How it works with eco2lot. You see the load profileThe time series of energy consumption in 15-minute intervals — the basis for grid fees and peak shaving. in real time, forecast from 15-minute measurements and ERP production planning. As soon as an overshoot looms, eco2lot sheds non-critical loads within seconds — in the order you approved beforehand. Existing storage or CHP units (combined heat and power) step in instead.

ROI profile. At 3 MW peak load, typically €30,000–120,000 in annual savings. Payback usually within 12–18 months.

Your peak shaving potential, calculated in 60 minutes. We analyze your 15-minute peaks and quantify the grid-fee savings for your site. Start the metering-point check →
🔌 Lever 2 of 4

Self-consumption optimization — control PV, CHP, and battery intelligently

Typical result +25 to +40% self-consumption rate
POWER 06 — 18 H PV generation RATE before 40% with eco2lot 75% Consumption Self-consumption

The problem. Without control, the self-consumption rate stays at 30–45%. Surplus PV energy is fed into the grid for 6–8 cents/kWh instead of being used on site at 22–35 cents/kWh. PV generation and production peaks rarely line up in time.

How it works with eco2lot. You see your forecast PV generation daily, derived from weather data. eco2lot automatically shifts the movable processes — cooling, compressed air, hot water, charging cycles — into hours of high self-generation. You control your battery storage according to your strategy: spot-market signal or grid signal.

ROI profile. The self-consumption rate rises from 40% to 65–80%, with storage to over 90%. Your PV system pays back 2–4 years faster.

🔌
Your self-consumption rate, quantified for your PV/CHP system. We review your feed-in surpluses of the last 12 months and show the load-shifting lever. Request the self-consumption check →
🌙 Lever 3 of 4

Base-load reduction — make consumption outside production visible

Typical result 20–40% less base load — within the first 3 months
LOAD (kW) 24 H Night Production Night −30% before after measures

The problem. In many industrial plants, base load runs at 30–50% of average load — at night, on weekends, during breaks. What exactly runs there is anyone's guess. Typical culprits: compressed-air compressors with leaks, exhaust fans left running, cold-store controls that keep going while the doors stand open.

How it works with eco2lot. You bring your existing meters, PLC variables, and process data together — with the hardware you already own. eco2lot detects base-load patterns through 24/7 measurement and makes the individual sources visible per line, medium, and shift. From these patterns you derive concrete measures: timers, repairs, organizational rules.

ROI profile. For a 10 GWh plant, a 20–40% base-load reduction means €150,000–400,000 in annual savings. Platform reality: 306 data points, 142 counters, 12 device types in a typical instance — all from existing metering infrastructure.

🌙
How high is your nighttime base load, really? The first ROI levers usually sit here, within the first 3 months. Start the base-load analysis →
📅 Lever 4 of 4

Schedule compliance — run PPA, tranches, and redispatch safely

Typical result 60–90% lower balancing-energy costs
POWER (MW) 24 H within ±5% Target schedule Actual load

The problem. Switching to tranches, spot-market shares, or a PPAPower Purchase Agreement — a long-term power supply contract with fixed volumes and a binding schedule. brings better prices — and a hard obligation: the schedule must be met. Deviations are billed back expensively as balancing energyCosts for deviations from the registered power schedule — charged back at a premium by the transmission system operator..

How it works with eco2lot. You import the day-ahead schedule from your supplier's energy portal — eco2lot compares it continuously with your actual load. Flexible loads or storage are controlled so your 15-minute deviation stays within ±5%.

ROI profile. On top come participation in the balancing-power market and the use of price spikes during dark, windless spells — all fully automated.

📅
PPA, tranches, or Redispatch 2.0German grid rules in force since 2021 for grid-side control of generators and controllable loads from 100 kW.? We show you which schedule deviations cost you balancing energy today. Book a schedule consultation →

Bonus on top: While you pull these four levers, all the building blocks ISO 50001 requires emerge automatically — gap-free measurement data, EnPIs, audit evidence. Certification becomes a routine result instead of an extra project.

Positioning

Energy management system vs. monitoring vs. energy BI vs. MES 2026 — which does what

These product categories are often confused, although they differ technically and functionally. This table makes the differences explicit — and shows where active energy management stands apart from classic solutions.

Capability Energy monitoring Energy BI Active EMS (eco2lot) MES
Capture measurement data◐ indirect◐ process-level
History & visualization
EnPI calculation & ISO reports◐ manual✓ automated
Real-time load forecast
Active control (peak shaving, self-consumption)◐ at process level
ERP / MES integration
OT integration (PLC, fieldbus)

Key takeaway: Pure monitoring shows consumption. Energy BI visualizes it in reports. An MES controls production processes. Only a full energy management software like eco2lot closes the control loop between measurement data, forecast, and intervention.

In practice this means: if you have a dashboard with consumption figures, you are working with a monitoring tool. If you also need EnPIs per batch and demand audit readiness, you move up into EMS territory. The investment between pure monitoring and a true energy controlling software typically differs by a factor of 1.5–2. The ROI difference from active control, however, sits at a factor of 5–10.

If your focus is on the machine — OEE, downtime, units per shift — the right tool is our production management software rather than the EMS. Both run on the same eco2lot platform and share the same data backbone. You can start with either one and add the other as needed.

You now know what you need.

60-minute metering-point check for your plant — free of charge and free of sales pressure.

Start the metering-point check →
Industry fit

Industries where we are already active

Our customer base is clearly focused: manufacturing companies with high consumption, continuous processes, and audit pressure.

Continuous production, high energy use, a demanding audit rhythm.

eco2lot grew out of projects in dairies, poultry processing, metal plants, and municipal utilities. What these operations share: high equipment density, continuous processes with core loads that are hard to shift, and an annual consumption from around 5 GWh of electricity.

Where OT data from PLCs, metering points, and ERP production planning must converge, eco2lot plays to its strengths. You see this in the metering-point analysis within the first project week.

  • Food & beverage
    Dairy, meat & poultry, confectionery, fruit processing, brewing
    Core industry
  • Metal processing & automotive suppliers
    Foundry, hardening, forming, component manufacturing
    Core industry
  • Packaging
    Corrugated board, films, extrusion and drying processes
    Strong fit
  • Chemicals & pharma
    Cleanroom, HVAC, refrigeration, CIP processes
    Strong fit
  • Plastics processing
    Injection molding, extrusion, blow molding
    Good fit
  • Municipal utilities
    Water boards, wastewater plants, public utilities
    Good fit

Typical customer profile

Manufacturing SMEs and groups with 1–30 sites, annual consumption from around 5 GWh of electricity, goals: reduce grid fees, maintain ISO 50001 evidence, integrate self-generation optimally.

For pure office energy monitoring in micro-companies or pure cloud BI without OT integration, we recommend alternatives — and we say so directly in the metering-point check.

Dairy group · 10+ sites · Food

Before. Every plant had its own metering infrastructure and its own Excel file. When corporate HQ wanted to know where the biggest lever was, the answer took three weeks — and was usually outdated by the time it arrived.

The pain point. One plant had been running 12% over plan for months. Nobody saw it early enough. The ISO 50001 audit was around the corner.

Today. eco2lot is the central platform across all sites. Reports arrive daily and automatically, new plants are connected during the rollout. Corporate HQ sees in one dashboard which plant needs attention — and which delivers quietly.

10+
Sites live
>5 yrs
Partnership
1
Platform
Poultry processor · DACH multi-site · Food

Before. The shop-floor supervisor spent three hours in Excel every Friday. Data gaps in meter capture turned the ISO 50001 audit reports into a monthly gamble.

The turning point. A load peak in the cold store had driven grid fees up for a full year — and nobody had seen it coming.

Today. Three hours per week won back. The ISO certification went through — in the supervisor's words — "perfectly prepared".

"With eco2lot we were perfectly prepared for the ISO 50001 certification. Reliable data capture, simple operation — time-consuming manual clean-ups are a thing of the past."
ISO 50001
0
Data gaps
audit-proof
Reporting
Is your industry on the list?

We check free of charge whether the typical levers — peak shaving, self-consumption, ISO 50001 — apply in your plant too.

Request an industry consultation →
Funding

BAFA funding 2026 — a 30–40% grant on your EMS POC

Module 3: measurement and control technology & EMS software

The Federal Funding for Energy and Resource Efficiency in Industry (BAFA EEW) is Germany's most important funding instrument for industrial companies introducing or modernizing energy management. BAFA is Germany's Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (the federal funding authority).

  • 30% funding rate for large companies
  • 40% for SMEs on eligible expenses
  • Up to €15 million grant per project
  • Decision typically within 8–12 weeks

We deliver the technical description, savings forecast, and cost allocation — application effort drops from days to hours.

What exactly is eligible:

  • Eligible: software licenses, sensors, gateways, implementation services, training
  • Excluded: ongoing operating costs, the applicant's internal personnel costs, projects that started before the application
  • Application route: online via BAFA's easy-Online portal
Is your POC eligible?

We check your project's Module 3 eligibility in 60 minutes — and deliver the technical description you need for the BAFA application.

Check funding eligibility →
Architecture & integration

How eco2lot fits your operations technically — energy data management with your existing equipment

You keep your existing systems — eco2lot is deliberately designed as an open integration layer on top of them. Every industrial company already runs an ERP (SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, Infor), a SCADA system such as Siemens PCS7, Wonderware, or WinCC, one or more MES (Hydra, iTAC, GE Proficy), and remote meter reading. An EMS platform that demands replacing these systems is unworkable in practice.

Supported protocols and interfaces

You connect your data sources via standardized protocols. Depending on the equipment generation, you use the following integration options:

  • OPC UAOpen Platform Communications Unified Architecture — the vendor-neutral OT standard for secure machine-to-software communication. — the modern OT standard (operational technology), access to PLC variables, SCADA tags, historian data
  • Modbus TCP/RTU — for meters, inverters, variable frequency drives, older automation devices
  • MQTT — for IoT gateways, edge devices, cloud-to-cloud integration
  • BACnet — for building automation, HVAC, central cooling plants
  • M-Bus and wireless M-Bus — for dedicated remote meter reading
  • REST and SOAP APIs — for ERP, MES, and portal integration (energy supplier, grid operator, BAFA portal)
  • File interfaces — for legacy systems with CSV export, historical data migration

IT security and OT separation

Connecting to production equipment comes with stricter requirements than classic IT. With eco2lot you get the established OT security principles as standard: network segmentation per ISA-95, unidirectional data flows where possible (data-diode concept), authentication via OAuth 2.0 / mTLS, a role model with 6 standard roles, and audit-ready change logging. The platform is prepared for your IT audits under ISO 27001 and IEC 62443.

Hosting & data sovereignty

Three hosting models. You decide where your data lives

SaaS, Own Cloud, or On-Premise — eco2lot runs in all three variants with the same feature set. You choose based on your IT security requirements, your data sovereignty needs, and your existing infrastructure.

Fastest start

SaaS

We operate eco2lot for you — in ISO 27001-certified data centers in Germany.

  • Live from day 1 — we provide the infrastructure and the cloud account
  • Automatic updates — new features without maintenance windows
  • GDPR-compliant — data processing exclusively in the EU
  • Predictable subscription model — fixed monthly costs, zero hardware investment
A fit for you if

You want to start fast, run your IT without a data center of your own, and the standard protection of ISO 27001 hosters meets your IT requirements.

Full data sovereignty

On-Premise

The entire platform runs on your own infrastructure — in your data center or server room.

  • Your data stays in-house — all processing on site, all traffic inside your network
  • Air-gap capable — works even in closed OT networks
  • Full control — you decide updates, backups, recovery
  • Meets corporate standards — fits even strict internal IT policies
A fit for you if

You operate your own data center, corporate policies rule out every form of cloud hosting, or equipment connectivity runs from a closed OT network.

Identical in all three variants: ISO 27001-aligned · GDPR · TLS 1.3 encryption · OAuth 2.0 / mTLS authentication.

Unsure which model fits your IT landscape? In the 60-minute metering-point check we clarify data sovereignty needs, IT security requirements, and equipment topology together — and openly recommend which hosting model is right for you.

Request free hosting advice →
Entry & pricing

Three entry paths. Fixed price. Clear expectations

Your entry is small and self-contained — far from a multi-year project. You see your savings potential in the 60-minute check, before you invest a single cent.

Step 1
Free
60-minute video call
Metering-point check
  • Assessment of your meters and PLCs
  • Savings forecast based on your load profile
  • Feasibility verdict (go / no-go)
  • Rough POC scope with timeline
  • Results summary by email

You know after 60 minutes whether a POC pays off for you. If it fails the math, we say so openly — free of sales pressure, free of follow-up costs.

Step 2
€10–20k
4–8 weeks, fixed price
Proof of concept
  • Connection of one line or one site
  • Live measurement & real-time dashboards
  • First control strategy (e.g. peak shaving)
  • Concrete savings figures from your plant
  • Rollout offer with business case
Step 3
custom
per site / medium
Rollout & operations
  • Rollout to further lines / sites
  • Additional control strategies & integrations
  • SLA, support, ongoing development
  • Training & enablement for your team
  • BAFA-eligible (we support the application)
Start step 1 for free — request the metering-point check →

Zero risk, zero follow-up costs. If the POC math fails for your case, we tell you openly in the 60-minute call.

What happens after your inquiry

A clear roadmap in 5 steps

1
Business days < 4 hrs
Make it visible

Personal callback from Andreas Babel or one of our experts. Together we clarify the current state and your pain point.

2
Week 1
Understand

60-minute metering-point check via video. Assessment of equipment, meters, and processes. We identify potential.

3
Week 2
Act

Fixed-price offer with scope, timeline, and price. Transparent and complete — every position in the open.

4
Weeks 3–10
Optimize

We implement the POC. After 4–8 weeks, an eco2lot instance runs with real numbers from your production.

5
From week 11
Learn

Management review, KPI tracking, ISO audit. eco2know training for your team — so the knowledge stays in-house.

Your direct contact

The founder responds personally

Andreas Babel
Andreas Babel
Founder & Managing Director

"I never set out to found a software company — I set out to solve problems I had experienced myself."

Why BS-Systeme exists. In 2010, Andreas Babel — then a technical production manager — stood in front of an electricity bill he could not explain. The meters were there. The data, somewhere. The Excel evaluation arrived a month too late. "There has to be software that prevents exactly this," he thought. There was none. So he built it himself. It became eco2lot.

Today the platform runs at DMK Group, Plukon, tesa, Hewi, and many others — and every code commit passes through someone who has operated plants themselves.

✓ Response in under 4 hours on business days

Your inquiry lands with one of our experts or with Andreas Babel personally for the first appointment.

Next step

Calculate the savings potential for your plant — free of charge

60-minute video call with one of our experts. Assessment of your metering points, savings forecast for peak shaving and self-consumption, POC scope. Free of sales pressure.

10–20%
Grid-fee reduction through peak shaving in the first year
4–8 wks
POC at a fixed price of €10–20k
30–40%
BAFA funding on software, sensors, and implementation
Frequently asked questions

What industrial decision-makers ask us before the POC

What is industrial energy management?

Industrial energy management is the systematic capture, analysis, and active control of all energy flows in a manufacturing operation. Unlike pure energy monitoring, an industrial energy management system actively intervenes in equipment — typically to shave load peaks, maximize self-consumption from PV or CHP systems, and cut energy costs per unit produced.

What is peak shaving and how much can it save?

Peak shaving means deliberately capping load peaks to reduce the highest 15-minute average of a billing period. In Germany, every kW of this maximum costs €80–200 per year in grid fees. Typical reductions from an EMS-driven peak shaving strategy are 10–20% of grid fees — for a plant with 3 MW peak load, that equals savings of €30,000–120,000 per year.

Do we have to replace our meters or our SCADA system?

You keep them. eco2lot is vendor- and protocol-open and connects existing meters, PLCs, ERP, and MES systems via OPC UA, Modbus, MQTT, BACnet, M-Bus, and further protocols. Even older equipment without an IP interface can be integrated through an edge gateway.

How quickly is eco2lot ready for use?

After the initial alignment, it typically takes 3–4 weeks to the first live measurement and 4–8 weeks to a full proof of concept with the first active control strategy. The POC is offered at a fixed price between €10,000 and €20,000.

Does eco2lot support ISO 50001?

Yes. eco2lot supports the introduction and operation of an energy management system according to ISO 50001:2018 through gap-free capture of energy data across all media (electricity, gas, compressed air, steam, cooling, water), automated EnPI calculation, audit-ready reports, and configurable audit trails. The platform is also designed for ISO 27001 information security requirements.

What funding is available for energy management software?

In Germany, EMS software qualifies for the BAFA program "Federal Funding for Energy and Resource Efficiency in Industry (EEW)" — BAFA is Germany's Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control — especially through Module 3 (measurement and control technology, sensors, and energy management software). The funding rate is 30% for large companies and 40% for SMEs on eligible expenses. We actively support you with the application and the verification.

What distinguishes eco2lot from energy BI such as Power BI?

Business intelligence tools such as Power BI or Tableau visualize consumption data after the fact. eco2lot, by contrast, actively controls: the platform intervenes in equipment in real time to avoid load peaks, increase self-consumption, or keep agreed power schedules. Monitoring and visualization are the prerequisite — active control is the goal.

What distinguishes energy management from production management?

Energy management software focuses on the energy flows of a plant: electricity, gas, compressed air, steam and cooling data, load peaks, ISO 50001 reporting, and CO₂ accounting. Production management software, by contrast, bundles machine and order data — OEE, downtime causes, unit counts, and shift performance. eco2lot covers both worlds on the same platform: energy management as its own solution with ISO 50001, peak shaving, and schedule control, production management as its own solution with live OEE and downtime Pareto analysis. The bridge is the KPI "energy per unit" — the central efficiency metric that only emerges when both data worlds come together.

Where is our energy data stored?

You choose between three hosting models: SaaS (we operate eco2lot for you in ISO 27001-certified data centers in Germany), Own Cloud (a dedicated instance on a cloud platform we support in the EU), or On-Premise (the entire platform on your own infrastructure, air-gap capable even in closed OT networks).

From what plant size does an EMS pay off?

From around 5 GWh annual consumption, an eco2lot POC typically pays for itself through peak shaving alone within 12–18 months. For smaller operations, ISO 50001 compliance or multi-site consolidation is usually the priority — we address this openly in the metering-point check if the business case falls short.

Which media can eco2lot capture?

All energy and process media common in industry: electricity, natural gas, heating oil, compressed air, steam, cooling, district heating, water, process gases (N2, CO2, O2), and process-specific media. The platform supports arbitrary measurement units and links them with production data from your MES or ERP.

Is eco2lot also suitable for smaller companies?

In principle, yes — eco2lot is modular and scales from a single site to multi-site groups. Below 5 GWh annual consumption and without ISO compliance needs, however, the fixed POC price often exceeds the benefit of the first 12 months. In these cases we recommend a staged entry (monitoring + EnPI only) and say so transparently in the check.

Who are the typical users on our team?

eco2lot is used by four typical roles: the energy manager (ISO 50001 responsibility, EnPI reporting), production/plant management (schedule compliance, peak avoidance), OT/maintenance (equipment interventions, alerting), and IT/IT security (system operation, interfaces). The role model is predefined in the platform and adapts to your organizational structure.

Does eco2lot support CO2 monitoring for CSRD and EnEfG reports?

Yes. eco2lot automatically calculates CO2 emissions for Scope 1 (direct emissions, e.g. natural gas and heating oil) and Scope 2 (purchased electricity, district heating) from the energy data it already captures — with stored emission factors per medium. CO2 monitoring thus runs as a by-product of energy monitoring: the same meter data that feeds load peaks and EnPIs delivers the audit-ready data basis for CSRD, EnEfG (Germany's Energy Efficiency Act), and BAFA reports — continuously instead of once a year via Excel estimates.

Your question missing? Talk directly to one of our experts → — or give us a quick call at +49 89 413 291 000.