Such quick changes can be both costly and intimidating, especially in manufacturing environments where concerns such as capital budget constraints, global competition, lack of access to skilled labour, information security, rising maintenance costs and safety issues abound.
Businesses need to plan quickly enough to ensure such changes add to their competitive advantage. However, before a production facility can even think of introducing new plant-floor technology, the fact of the matter is that the lifetime of its existing automation investments should have already been maximized.
The problem, of course, is that very few businesses focus on managing aging equipment, and most manufacturers continue to use automation equipment well beyond the manufacturer’s obsolescence date. This is quite understandable, knowing the aim of businesses is to remain productive and increase profit – and cutting costs on the acquisition of new equipment is one way to accomplish this.
Also, very few companies create formal plans for managing the life-cycle of their equipment. However, production facilities that have no concrete plans for addressing and managing end-of-life technology need to address certain risks that come with continuing to operate aging equipment.
These include:
Continuing to use legacy equipment beyond its obsolescence date carries a certain degree of risk. This is why it is critical to identify and quantify risk. Production facilities need to determine whether they need to mitigate the risk until scheduling and capital funding becomes available, or to eliminate risk through product migration.
Some of the important questions to ask in determining your next best step include the following:
If, after answering the above questions, you agree that upgrading to new equipment should be your next move, make sure you cover the following eight steps towards eliminating obsolete industrial automation equipment:
You can keep a record of this in your long-term obsolescence plan which should cover your factory floor design. Doing so can help you anticipate the need for a redesign when specific components become obsolete even before a machine is fielded. Also, supply and demand forecasts can help you calculate how many orders you can complete using a particular machine before it fails or breaks down. This will help you avoid dreaded downtimes which can lead to profit loss, the erosion of customer confidence and brand-related problems.
Manufacturers that continue to use industrial automation equipment to the point of breakdown usually lack the awareness necessary to determine when equipment should be repaired, replaced or upgraded. By creating a strategy for obsolescence, you can reduce the risks of total equipment breakdown and failure. This way, you can also start planning for repairs and order replacement parts after partnering with a trusted specialist supplier.
There are two forms of accountability in managing and preventing obsolescence — an obsolescence report and a risk analysis. Anticipating risks involves using a rolling timeline where each component is regularly inspected. Here, you need to consider resources such as the supplier’s end-of-the-line (EOL) plans, maintenance logs, and internal systems. You can then use the data and observations when strategizing for failure and preventing downtime.
You need to ensure that all component parts are assessed to check whether they can still survive a downtime. You also need to identify companies or suppliers offering year-round on-site emergency repair services. Your chosen repair/maintenance partner needs to have experienced technicians to help you manage equipment repairs in a timely manner. You also need to factor in the costs you need to prepare for in case of repair and maintenance work, as well as necessary upgrades.
Avoid emergency downtimes by evaluating which existing components need to be replaced long before an equipment downtime compels you to get an upgrade. Purchasing necessary new or used parts can save your company money in the long run since upgrading means avoiding the eventuality of having to track down rare or obsolete parts during a downtime emergency.
An obsolescence strategy must take into account which replacement parts should be kept in stock, as well as identify those spare parts that can be purchased as required. Having critical components for the production process in stock is an absolute necessity, especially if these cannot be quickly replaced, repaired or upgraded.
The ultimate aim and benefit of obsolescence planning is to prevent the needless loss of revenue. What's more, having a plan in place helps to strengthen brand reputation and customer trust. A well-planned obsolescence strategy also includes preventive maintenance plans that can effectively reduce maintenance costs and increase the productivity of equipment and facilities.
Obsolescence planning is an ongoing process as not all equipment and essential components are purchased at the exact same time; the same can be said for repair and maintenance activities.
What you need to do to stay on top of your strategy is to coordinate, schedule and update your strategy using available, current data with key people involved in strategy implementation. Familiarize yourself with all your assets, and fortify your asset management efforts.
Ready to eliminate used parts and equipment? Radwell can assist you.
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