Preparing for Planned and Unplanned Outages
Planned and Unplanned Plant Outages: Are You Ready?
Whether your facility is commercial, industrial, retail, medical or a school, interruptions to your business (planned or unplanned) can cause serious problems due to lost production time.
Planned Outages
Due to Building/Plant Upgrades or Improvement
Planned outages must be prepared for ahead of time, especially when there is an upgrade or any site work that could interrupt normal operations. For example, adding new electrical circuits often requires advanced planning so temporary power lines can be set up to run plant machinery and avoid unnecessary downtime.
As well, planning for any other significant repair or construction upgrade to your facility must be done ahead of time, to prepare for the impact on your team’s existing operations.
Preparing for your planned outage should include focus on managing and executing all the tasks necessary to maintain productivity, including:
- Running temporary power lines to plant equipment or offices;
- Coordinating electrical or other utility upgrades with local utilities;
- Relocating manufacturing equipment, fixtures, office furniture, and other assets;
- Making necessary safety assessments and installing temporary walls, barriers, flooring, or lighting.
To avoid unnecessary downtime, each of these steps must be expertly scheduled, coordinated, and executed to insure productivity among your team during the project.
When planned outages must occur, it’s often more productive for plant management and the production team to stay focused on their daily work instead of spending time on the steps required to prepare for the upgrade or improvement project.
Here’s how we can help: Request a Planned Outage Preparation Session, which includes a thorough review of your operation, and an Outage Assessment Report for your planning purposes.
Unplanned Outages
Due to Weather, Accidents or Other Emergencies
Unplanned outages can be even more challenging, with storm damage, extended power outages, a roof collapse from heavy snows, vehicular damage to buildings, or any other major event that causes downtime for your business and employees.
Preparing for an unplanned outage should include focus on having access to the right equipment and trained personnel at a moment’s notice, including:
- Demolition and cleanup crews;
- Cranes and bulldozers;
- Heavy equipment operators;
- Electrical crews for temporary power lines;
- Various construction trades for repair or rebuilding.
Delays in lining up any of these outside contractors often multiply the overall delay in getting your operations back online.
One of the biggest challenges faced by building owners and facility or plant managers during such events is getting the right people on site to start the cleanup and rebuilding process. To avoid this challenge, it’s best to have an emergency outage plan prepared ahead of time.
Here’s how we can help: Request an Emergency Unplanned Outage Preparation Session, which includes a thorough review of your operation, and an Unplanned Outage Preparation Plan for your planning purposes.
The best time to plan for both planned and unplanned outages is now, and the best way to prepare is to have a planned outage, emergency services, and recovery contract with an experienced repair, construction, and recovery partner in place before anything happens.
As our customer, you’ll have priority access to our entire team’s years of experience and proven track-record helping businesses and plant operations with planned and unplanned outages. With our extensive network of sub-contractors, we are available on a 24/7 basis to help your business recover from storm damage, accidents, and other events.
 |
 |
