If you are working within a plastics processing facility, downtime can be one of the biggest challenges you face, especially if it’s unplanned.
Unexpected downtime impacts your people, productivity and, ultimately, the bottom line of your business. One of the most common causes is equipment malfunction, although it is possible to keep this risk to a minimum by adopting a proactive, or preventative approach to maintenance.
How Proactive Maintenance Keeps Your Equipment Performing at Its Best
Proactive maintenance is a strategy which prevents equipment failing by predicting, identifying, and fixing potential issues before they can result in a breakdown. It’s usually underpinned by regular inspections, close monitoring of key operating metrics and undertaking routine maintenance tasks as and when they’re needed.
As the saying goes, “prevention is always better than a cure” and proactive maintenance is the prevention method. It ensures your equipment is working as efficiently and effectively as it can. This in turn means you maximise uptime, production and safeguard your people and your business.
Proactive Maintenance for Plastics Processors: Maximising Uptime and Reliability
Ongoing, dependable maintenance is important across all businesses that are looking to minimise downtime. However, there are everyday practices within the plastics sector which make breakdown scenarios and equipment failure more likely.
For example, if you’re running an injection moulding facility, the mould or tool is frequently changed. This could be weekly or, if you’re running short production runs, it might be daily. Each time a change is made, you risk the following:
- Process contamination – it is surprisingly easy for debris and bacteria to enter your process and there are three main types of contamination you’re likely to come across. If the tool isn’t sufficiently cleaned plastic pellets or granules can cause a problem, alongside bacteria and corrosion.
- Loss of process fluid – not an issue in itself as it can be replaced. But it is critical that the replacement fluid has the correct concentration of glycol. If not, over time the glycol level will deplete to a point that freezing will occur once the ambient temperature drops over winter.
If either of the above are left to become problematic, it can result in equipment outage, downtime, and expensive repair costs. But equally there are ways to mitigate the risk by understanding the maintenance requirements of your equipment and doing all that you can to safeguard against unnecessary cost and downtime.
With this scenario water testing and treatment protocols are key to ensure you’re operating with the correct levels of glycol, inhibitor, and biocide. Filtration is equally as important, so that any debris is eliminated from the system before it has the opportunity for example to block the evaporator on your process chiller. You might want to consider side stream filtration – rather than in-line filtration – as it offers a number of efficiency benefits. In a nutshell, with side stream filtration only a portion of the total flow is treated so the main system can continue uninterrupted and there’s no requirement to shut down the system when the filter needs replacing.
Keep Production on Track with Preventative Maintenance from Aqua
Aqua support customers operating within the plastics arena in several ways, including:
Planned Preventative Maintenance Plans – often referred to as a PPM agreement, this is a service we offer to support customers with the service and maintenance of their temperature control equipment. We offer a standard or premium option, as well as a range of optional add ons and cover all main brands of equipment.
Remote Monitoring with Aqua Proactive – remote monitoring allows you – or us – to track the performance of your temperature control equipment, without being there in person. It helps identify potential issues, reduces risk of downtime and improves operational efficiency. We can even monitor on your behalf, so we can address a problem before you’re even aware that it’s happened! Our Aqua Proactive software monitors 300 variables every 10 seconds giving you and your facility invaluable data insights.
Maintenance Plans Tailored to Your Process Application
The type of maintenance plan you need will normally be determined by the equipment you have on site and how it is used. For example, if your production is running 24/7, we’d recommend a higher number of engineer visits each year than if you’re operating a small mould shop that only operates during standard office hours. Our experienced Service team understand the challenges your industry faces and will guide you through the process.
A planned preventative maintenance plan from Aqua includes the below as standard:
- Annual maintenance visits
- 24/7 support
- Full gas compliance – including F-Gas, CO2 and Propane, ensuring legislative compliance
- Priority response – should an unplanned outage ever occur
- Discounted parts & labour costs
- Detailed reporting
- Warranty protection
There are then a range of additional services which can be added, giving you a maintenance agreement tailored to your specific needs. These include water sampling, water treatment, and remote monitoring.
How Preventative Maintenance Will Benefit Your Production Facility
In addition to increased up-time and fewer repairs, there are a number of other tangible benefits to having a proactive maintenance strategy. These include:
- Increased up-time & fewer repairs
- Lower total cost of ownership
- Legislative compliance – F-Gas, CO2, R290/Propane, Isobutane
- Cost savings due to efficiencies
- Extended equipment lifespan
- Easy budgeting
FAQs
Where are your engineers based?
We have a network of directly employed engineers based across the UK, so we’re never far away when you need us.
How much does proactive maintenance cost?
Cost depends on the equipment covered & services required and discounts apply based on the length of the agreement you sign up for. Give the team a call on 0333 004 4433 for full details.
Does F-Gas compliance apply to my business?
The F-Gas Regulation (517/2014) sets out a series of measures that must be adhered to if you’re operating equipment containing fluorinated gas. The requirements vary depending on the type and quantity of F-Gas used. With an Aqua maintenance plan, we’ll support you to ensure your legal obligations are met. Aqua are REFCOM registered, and all our engineers are F-Gas accredited, so we’re up to date with the very latest requirements. Your plan will include leak testing and full F-Gas compliance as standard.
