Loss of power brings the operations at your manufacturing facility to a screeching halt. The cause can be local, regional or widespread. If you are lucky the time without power is quick and relatively painless.
But every minute you are down means lost revenue — a potential loss of material, loss of productivity and an overall loss of income. Power failures can result in thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue.
But you do not have to be a victim. There are steps you can take to minimize the disruption and devastation to your business. Here are a few steps you can consider to avoid damages and revenue lost during a power outage.
Install a UPS and/or backup power generator
The easiest way to avoid the impact of a power outage is to have an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), or a backup generator. A UPS stores energy you can use to bridge the gap between when an outage hits and when you can switch on a secondary power source, or at least power down vital equipment. You can then switch to an on-site emergency backup generator.
If having a quick blip does not pose any damage to your processes or equipment, you could just rely on a backup generator to kick in. It will not be quite as seamless and you will lose power momentarily, but at least your manufacturing can quickly return to normal.
Utilize smart meter technology
Smart meters can provide timestamps for all power up and power down events. This way, the precise outage duration can be calculated. This can be used to evaluate overall power performance and identify the best and worst performing circuits. This data can be used by electrical engineers to prevent future power outages and ensure the accuracy of electrical maps. Smart meters can also effectively reduce power outage and restoration time.
Inspect, clean and test circuit breakers
Maintaining reliable circuit breakers is critical to safety, equipment protection and minimizing power disruptions. This is why regular maintenance on each circuit breaker by an experienced electrician is so important.
If you are experiencing frequent power outages as a result of tripped breakers, you may have an overloaded circuit board, be suffering from a short circuit or hot wire or have a ground fault surge. Any of these problems will require the expertise of a skilled electrician to fix.
Inspect, repair or replace faulty electrical wiring
Nearly 25 percent of all major electrical failures are caused by loose or corroded connections, according to NETA, the insurance carrier. Bad connections cause heat which can be a fire hazard. A qualified electrician can run infrared scans to help identify bad wiring. You can also install wireless thermal sensors near busbars, circuit breakers and transformers that transmit data to a central power management application to monitor abnormal temps.
Once you identify faulty wiring, work with a qualified electrician to replace the wiring. This will help prevent power outages as well as reduce your risk of fire.
Work with an electrical contractor that specializes in manufacturing facilities
If you are seeing frequent power shutdowns at your manufacturing facility, the electrical grid may need to be inspected or overhauled.
A PECS affiliated contractor is experienced at retrofitting electrical configurations at manufacturing facilities. Since PECS contractors retain the best trained electricians, testing your breakers and looking for any hotspots is also easy to accomplish. These tests can determine which portions of your grid need rewired or replaced.
PECS contractors can suggest alternative power resources to help you avoid a costly power outage.
PECS can connect you with an experienced contractor for any project on any budget. All PECS contractors are committed to provide the highest quality work, with a focus on completing the job on time, and on or under budget.
Pennsylvania Electrical Contractor Solutions is a consortium of the region’s top electrical contractors who work in Schuylkill, Berks and Lancaster counties. Our affiliated contractors employ highly skilled and highly trained electrical workers, who work safely and have a proven record of completing a job on time and on or under budget.
