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Might maintenance as a service be right for you?

12 June 2023

As the list of options for maintenance strategies grows, David Pownall offers some food for thought about the benefits of maintenance as a service options.

Food and beverage manufacturing has always had a unique relationship with maintenance. Mirrored only by pharmaceutical production, food and beverage assets have uncompromising hygiene standards with equipment often needing to be able to cope with frequent washdowns and fluctuating temperatures. Couple this with fast-evolving consumer demands that requires manufacturers to add new assets or modify existing equipment and more recent considerations such as rising energy costs, a cost-of-living crisis and future Net Zero targets and it paints a picture of a sector that needs to identify seamless maintenance strategies that offer continuous production while enabling efficiency benefits that can be felt throughout the enterprise. 

Maintenance strategies will vary from business to business as no two manufacturers will operate in the same way. Food and beverage manufacturers embody this – with large enterprises operating globally and producing multiple product lines for supermarkets, while smaller manufacturers might only produce one specialised product in much smaller quantities. In both examples, and every business in between, maintenance issues can cause unplanned downtime which always comes with a high cost. 

Among Fortune 1000 companies – a number of which are in the food and beverage sector – it is reported that a single hour of downtime can cost $300,000 or more. At a time where the cost of living crisis is raising the price of food and drink, a robust maintenance strategy is needed to deliver value that can be seen across the enterprise and can help keep pricing competitive. 

Consider digital services
Digital transformation is discussed regularly when looking at the future of food and beverage manufacturing, but I believe that the adoption of digital services is just as critical. Plant managers need to consider all the technical and economic measures available to minimise the risk of unplanned downtime that can impact assets, the business, or even worker safety. Adopting smart services with the right partner company can ease the worry of maintenance by building a strong foundation. 

The right partner company, when it comes to maintenance for food and beverage manufacturing, should be able to work with you to align on vision and strategy through baseline assessments. The next step is the setting targets by identifying goals and prioritising actions for existing production lines or in the design and planning of new lines. Your chosen partner company should also factor in decarbonisation – often seen as a bonus by-product of improved maintenance. There is a huge opportunity here for manufacturers to considerably reduce their overall energy consumption. Finally, your chosen partner should be able to track performance and sustain results through 24/7 monitoring with a constant action to measure, adapt and innovate. 

Real-world applications
Taking a digitalised approach to maintenance, while bringing in a specialised service partner company, will benefit food and beverage manufacturers in several ways:
 
• Food and beverage manufacturers of all sizes operate with complex electrical systems, with failures often leading to damage and unplanned downtime. Smart maintenance services can monitor the power distribution network from the point at which power enters the facility to its point of use. This includes transformer health, circuit breakers, temperature, and humidity in the motor control centre, and the condition of the motors being controlled.  Smart service can predict failures weeks and months in advance and advise what action needs to be taken. This minimises the risk of failure and reduces the severity of electrical system-related accidents or stops to production. One less worry for the plant manager and operators on the factory floor. 
• Service continuity should also be a major consideration for food and beverage manufacturers, especially large enterprises. Businesses that rely on 24/7 availability of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) can move maintenance from a time-consuming task to a competitive asset. Indeed, research shows that 67% of breakdowns can be avoided through formalised maintenance service planning, creating an opportunity for manufacturers to out-perform their competitors through maintenance alone. 

• I mentioned earlier how decarbonisation was often seen as a positive by-product of maintenance strategies but maintenance services should push this even further. It’s no surprise that electrical equipment that is not maintained is not as energy efficient as assets that are. Assets in food and beverage experience normal wear and tear but with the additional sector-specific challenges. Constant washdown procedures and fluctuating temperatures result in component stress and diminished energy efficiency. A predictive and supported maintenance approach that utilises data will notify operators of these component strains as soon as they impact energy use, providing yet another opportunity for manufacturers to not only save money but play their part in reducing energy waste. 

• Considering the significant CapEx investment needed to install new equipment, it is important to keep existing assets running for as long as possible. Maintenance-as-a-service can help lowers the total cost of ownership while avoiding premature replacement. Not only will this help save on the cost of new assets but it further reduces the need for emergency interventions which often involves spare parts and labour costs. Food and beverage manufacturers that adopt a predictive maintenance approach have the opportunity to reduce both CapEx and OpEx expenses with one strategy. 

The rising costs of raw ingredients, coupled with high energy costs and the ever evolving demands of the consumer, means food and beverage manufacturers need to find value in what they already have. A predictive maintenance programme with service support can provide the opportunity to do just that, keeping production moving efficiently while avoiding the high cost associated with new assets. The resulting energy efficiency benefits act as an extra incentive for companies to invest in predictive maintenance strategies that can easily improve a business’ green credentials. At a time where consumers are willing to pay more for products produced in a sustainable way, food and beverage manufacturers must seize the opportunity to set themselves apart through a robust, modern and data-enabled maintenance strategy. 

David Pownall is VP Services and Safety at Schneider Electric.


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