Downtime costs money
We could show you a graph that explains the relationship between service costs and downtime. But it’s easier to explain it as follows: If you want your system to be working smoothly for as long as possible, you need to follow certain rules. For example, regular lubrication (even if it’s not squeaking), visual inspections, routine replacement of wear parts, and monitoring various readings that can indicate a problem well in advance. In this way, you can avoid a large number of problems – especially if you document your operating regime and compliance. But all this costs money. What is easy on the nerves is hard on the wallet. Otherwise everything would be too easy.
Areas of application for service life optimisation
Risk the crash
Maybe it’s cheaper to run your system at full throttle, do only what’s necessary and wait for it to crash. What breaks then gets repaired or replaced, and after (hopefully) a relatively short interruption, the system can be restarted. If unplanned downtime doesn’t pose major problems, this may be the most economical solution.
It depends
We suggest you take a step back and, for example, look back. How many system failures have there been in the past three years? How long was the plant idle in each case? What problems (and costs) did that cause? What mishaps could have been prevented by taking precautionary measures? What would they have cost? How much of the system capacity did you use each year? Perhaps the truth lies somewhere between the extremes. You may find it cheaper and less stressful to run your system at 80% or 90% as scheduled, rather than alternating between 100% and forced interruptions. We can help you to find and implement the right operating regime for your plant – from initial analysis to the construction of a spare-parts warehouse (including a customer warehouse on our premises).
