Electrical preventive maintenance is an integral part of the safety measures adopted in any Industrial construction company. Company owners must seek the guidance of Industrial electrical consultants to make sure that all industrial facilities are regularly inspected for all potential electrical issues that are likely to occur. This will ensure that you are aware of the problems before they turn into uncontrollable disasters.
Electrical preventive maintenance- An in-depth discussion
Electrical preventive maintenance is the service provided by authorized personnel to ensure that the equipment and facilities present in a company are in satisfactory operating conditions.This service is done systematically to inspect, detect and correct failures before they turn into major defects that are harmful. Performing various tests including adjustments, measurements, parts replacements, etc under vigilant supervision of Industrial electrical consultants help to prevent disasters. These systematic inspections also aid in reducing power consumption. When the devices are all in proper operating condition, they run efficiently and do not need extra power to perform. Plant managers find it useful to lower power consumption and thus reduce expenses too.
The Electrical preventive maintenance program differs according to the electrical design services present in a company. The program will depend on factors like
- Type of business
- Redundancy in production
- Sensitivity to disruptions
- Business interruption costs
- Alterations to system loads
- Spoilage of product
- Age of equipment
- Incoming Power quality
- Environmental conditions
How Often do you need to conduct preventive maintenance?
A licensed electrician should conduct the inspection every 3-5 years. You will need to check with him regarding certain individual appliances. Some may need 1 year whereas some will take around 2 years or so. It will depend on the nature of the business. For example, if you have a fire fighting system for building, you may need to ensure more frequent maintenance to ensure proper functioning in times of emergency. preventive maintenance and inspection work orders are very important. Therefore, handling them effectively using CMMS software helps in scheduling, recording of activity, reporting of results and notes, etc.
Benefits of an efficient EPM Program
Implementing proper EPM reduces accidents and saves lives. In addition to that, costly breakdowns, as well as unplanned shutdowns of plant machinery, can be avoided. Measurable economic benefits can be obtained due to reduced costs in repairs and equipment downtime. Moreover, Improved safety to the working person can be provided by reducing the occurrence of electrical injuries and fatalities, fires and electrical explosions. It also becomes easier to identify the components which are running hot or not as per the specifications prescribed.
In addition to that, Predictive maintenance technologies like vibration analysis, infrared thermography, laser alignment tools, scheduled lubrication, and general maintenance can assist in avoiding asset failure to a great extent. According to Industrial electrical consultants, using the above-mentioned technologies can possibly extend the life cycle of the assets and equipment too. Effective maintenance of equipment will increase the dependability of the machinery. In addition, it will also improve its performance efficiency. The investment in EPM is always less than the cost of repair and production losses due to equipment shutdown.
List of required Electrical preventive measure items suggested by Industrial electrical consultants Re-torque connections NEC code compliance Shutdown mechanisms Inspection of heating and cooling units GFCIs Checking panel boards Inspecting PLCs for effectiveness Examining work orders Supervision of new installs for compliance Ensuring lock-out tags are in place Lighting
Some of the tools available are: CMMS/EAM software for both asset as well as maintenance management PLC and training CBM cum reliability based maintenance methodologies Infrared Thermography Vibration analysis Ultrasonic analysis Laser alignment Using the senses
Cost of an Electrical preventive maintenance Program
The cost of implementing the program will depend on the size and complexity of the operating system. In addition to that, the budget of the company and the operating environment also plays an important role. Because of this, Industrial electrical consultants believe that an effective EPM program will pay for itself through improved power quality, energy savings, and improved plant uptime. Moreover, you can approach a service contractor to develop the cost-benefit analysis and justify the implementation costs. In conclusion, it is always important to ensure the safety and efficiency of your company. So implementing the program will only benefit your industry and help reduce unwanted expenses
