Dealing with Downtime: What to Do When Equipment Fails You
For many manufacturers, the number one concern that keeps them up at night is equipment failure. In other words, DOWNTIME. The “D” word. The word no one wants to hear. That’s because more often than not it means your manufacturing processes and production will come to a screeching halt, and obviously, that’s not good. The key to dealing with downtime is making sure you’re prepared for it.
Every company should have a continuity plan in place to prepare for the unexpected in order to recover as quickly as possible.
The best plans have the following key elements:
- A list of critical equipment and any factors that could cause a need for replacement or repair.
- An up-to-date spare parts inventory, including sources for purchases and timelines for delivery.
- A list of equipment rentals and contractors you can turn to for help, complete with costs, availability, time estimations, and any necessary steps involved, such as permits.
- Alternative options like running other equipment longer, outsourcing or using other facilities to maintain production.
Along with having a solid plan in place, investing in a condition monitoring system will help decrease your unplanned downtime concerns immensely! “Smart” IoT Automation, using Predictive Technology, helps identify issues before they become disruptive problems! In fact, condition monitoring allows you to solve potential problems long before they even occur, which not only increases your overall productivity, but also increases facility efficiency.
A great example is Advantech’s LoRa technology featuring Wzzard LRPv Node and SmartSwarm 243 Gateway, which enables the tracking and collecting of sensor data and reports it directly to your computer or cloud application. This alerts you of potential problems early so you can take immediate action, preventing what would normally be unforeseen production shutdowns.
Dial 800-242-4811 to learn more about Kundinger condition monitoring products from Advantech and other industry leaders such as B&R, and Parker. We’re happy to share with you all the benefits these products can provide…not the least of which is a good night’s sleep.