Introduction
Planned outages can feel like they create more problems than they solve. A single repair or scheduled maintenance period can send serious ripples through your business. Delayed shipments. Strained vendor relationships. Lost revenue.
But, if you ignore scheduled maintenance in the name of the short term, you risk setting your plant up for bigger problems, deeper root issues and even more downtime. When working with aging equipment and changing demands, planned maintenance is a matter of “when,” not “if.” So, are manufacturers forced to face a persistent catch-22?
Far from it. In fact, with the right solutions in place, planned outages do not have to mean downtime.
Full business continuity is an achievable, and accessible reality. Here are three ways manufacturers can maintain continuity and avoid loss during planned outages — no customer impact required.
Repair and replace without disrupting production targets
Manufacturers face a difficult challenge.
Many manufacturers depend on perpetual production to stay on pace. But the very thing that keeps them in business is the same thing that can put them out of business in an instant.
Machinery accumulates wear and tear. And over time, the chance of strained productivity or sudden failure increases. And while scheduled maintenance can solve that problem for the future, it leaves a glaring gap in the moment.
And the impacts on your business are big, regardless of the task. Whether you’re conducting a seasonal-tune up on a section of your production line or decommissioning a critical piece of equipment during peak business, planned maintenance typically also means a planned shutdown.
So, how can plants continue to run capacity while repairing or replacing aging equipment?
Enter supplemental utilities.
From streamlining the transition from decommissioned equipment to new equipment, or temporarily powering key elements to your production during scheduled upgrades, supplemental utilities exist to preserve normal production flow in case of repairs and replacement.
By utilizing these resources, manufacturers can ease the effects of planned outages on productivity — or eliminate them altogether.
Maintain plant conditions during partial outages
Production loss isn’t just a byproduct of downtime. It’s also an issue impacted by changes to temperature and humidity in your plant’s internal climate. And with climate change and demand change pushing plants to new places, the risk of atmosphere-induced issues rises.
And this is especially true when working with either perishable products or volatile chemicals. When dealing with sensitive products or processes, even subtle shifts to temperature and humidity can slow production or corrode products.
Consider what’s at risk:
- Perishable consumable products with regulated temperature and humidity requirements
- Packing materials, including shipping boxes at risk of mold or corrosion
- Hazardous materials like chemicals, aerosols and petroleum
- Storage shelves
- Spill hazards caused by melting or condensation in cold storage
- Negative impacts on machinery caused by suboptimal climate conditions
- Digital systems, including fulfillment, warehouse management and security
And more.
In short, partial outages carry even more weight than downtime. It can mean serious repercussions for your product yield and bottom line — not to mention your plant’s safety. Continuity means more than continuous productivity. It also means a consistently safe and stable atmosphere for your plant. Manufacturers must consider the immediate environmental impacts to their plant when undergoing a partial outage.
Manufacturers benefit from a temporary energy strategy that places equal weight on both the immediate and long-tail factors influencing continuity.
Internal climate control is critical to the right approach. Allowing your plant to maintain an ideal atmosphere during scheduled maintenance to minimize as many potential interferences as possible. And help your business operate seamlessly during a scheduled shutdown — while minimizing delays and potential contaminations.
Short-term continuity solutions for long-term upgrades
Whether it roots in new regulations, new products or sudden business growth, upgrades to your plant can mean a major boon to your long-term success.
A healthy lifecycle is a growing lifecycle. But conventional wisdom would tell you long-term growth has to mean short-term sacrifice.
And with upgrades coming at a faster and faster pace — the energy transition replacing diesel with renewable energy, regulations accelerating production line upgrades, demand change driving new plant construction, etc. — downtime can feel just around the corner.
But, you can’t risk letting continuity be the cost of your long-term vision. Not in a business climate that is as competitive as it is in flux.
So what can you do?
Deploy short-term supplemental utilities systems and strategies that allow you to grow — without the growing pains. Solutions include:
- Safely storing products to regulation during migration
- Temporarily powering new processes during expansion
- Supplementing existing utilities during partial outages
- Powering new plants during while waiting for permanent access to the grid
- Stabilizing productivity to avoid disruptions during planned full shutdowns
Final thoughts
If a plant can successfully maintain continuity during a planned outage, it can avoid production delays, hit quarterly and protect revenues. Even when equipment issues our outright failures occur.
Planned outages will happen. But planned outages do not have to mean full — or even partial — shutdown. The key lies in temporary energy solutions, which allow plants to operate at the expectations of their customers and stakeholders while making important maintenance decisions.
Find out more about our solutions for the manufacturing sector