With the recent arrival of 2023, now is the time to commit to driving productivity and growth for your organization. Planning ahead and making sure your operations have strategies to eliminate downtime is critical for the long-term success of your manufacturing organization.
Here are 4 electrical tips that all manufacturers should consider in 2023.
1. Perform Any Outstanding Equipment Maintenance & Repair
A smart move for your company is to have routine equipment maintenance and repair to ensure that all systems are functioning properly.
For example, without proactive Electrical Preventative Maintenance (EPM), your facilities and equipment are susceptible to electrical issues that can lead to expensive repair costs, production downtime, damaged equipment, and loss of product. At Suburban, we offer a comprehensive Electrical Preventative Maintenance (EPM) Assessment and perform diagnostics on energized and de-energized equipment in your facilities. Using one of our thermographic cameras, we identify hotspots and connections that require immediate maintenance.
Your operations are essential, and Suburban wants to ensure your production lines can stay up and running. Schedule an electrical maintenance or repair today to ensure all systems are up to date. If you’re unsure of when or whether you need an electrical maintenance performed, please refer to our article here.
Read More: When Should I Hire a Commercial Electrician to Inspect My Business?
2. Review Your Most Recent Arc Flash Analysis
Another thing to watch out for are arc flashes. If you’re not already familiar with what an arc flash is, it’s whenever a flashover of an electric current occurs outside its intended path, traveling from one conductor to another conductor, and/or the ground.
An arc flash can occur from dust, accidental dropping or touching, corrosion, faulty installation, or material failure. Arc flashes should be taken seriously because they can cause injury or even death. More information here from OSHA about understanding the arc flash.
An arc flash can pose serious threats to your equipment and employees, resulting in injury to your workers and the destruction of your electrical systems. There are a variety of reasons why an arc flash can occur, but most of them are identifiable and preventable.
At Suburban, we prioritize safe work practices and apply that expertise to analyze high-risk arc flash areas in your electrical power system.
3. Improve Electrical Safety on the Manufacturing Floor
Next, it’s essential to consider improving electrical safety overall on your building’s manufacturing floor.
Industrial workers are surrounded by potential electrical hazards, which makes following safety procedures critical. In addition to an Electrical Preventative Maintenance Assessment, there are many ways to improve electrical safety in the industrial workplace.
At Suburban, we partner with our industrial clients to ensure their facilities and equipment are up to code and operating safely and efficiently. Improving overall plant safety starts with simple tasks such as providing your team members with the proper electrical PPE and training and making sure to not overload outlets. It can also include more complex steps such as a complete redesign of your plant’s electrical infrastructure.
Is it time to schedule a service to improve your building’s electrical safety? Suburban is here to help every step of the way to protect your equipment, facilities, and most importantly your team members.
Read More: 4 Reasons Why You Need to Winterize Your Business
4. Reduce Your Facility’s Energy Consumption
Lastly, you should consider how much energy your facility is using.
Energy is one of the highest costs of doing business in the industrial sector. By performing a thorough assessment of how your business uses power, you will find there are many ways to improve efficiencies in your operations while also providing significant cost savings.
One thing to consider that is often overlooked is replacing your old fluorescent or incandescent lighting fixtures with LED bulbs and lamps. LED bulbs use approximately 25% of the energy required of a standard lightbulb.
At Suburban, we help our industrial clients exceed their energy saving goals by working closely with Focus on Energy and providing a wide range of energy design and control solutions. If you have questions about your home, business, or industrial building’s energy consumption, take a look at some of our electrical FAQs for more information.
Read More: 10 Important Questions to Ask Your Electrician
Why Choose Suburban?
Suburban Enterprises has been serving the Fox Valley community and Northeastern WI since 1960. With decades of industry experience, we serve residential, commercial, and industrial clients thanks to our four divisions: Suburban Automation, Suburban Electric, Suburban Fabrication, and Suburban Technology. Specifically, our electrical services vary from machinery installation to electrical service and support, and even emergency services.
In addition, each team member is fully licensed and equipped with current industry knowledge. We are skilled in surge protection for your business, as well as electrical repairs, generator maintenance, light fixture installations, and electrical panel replacements. Read more here about the benefits of hiring a reputable electrical contractor for your services.
We hope all manufacturers find these tips helpful as you look to meet your organization’s operational and production goals in the new year. We wish everyone a safe and successful year ahead!
Further Reading: Reasons Why You Shouldn’t DIY Electrical Work
