Whether you’re dealing with regular outages or barely noticeable power fluctuations, power quality is far more important than you might realize. Especially those minor issues that you might not notice or brush off.
We’re going to explain why power quality is so important, and how you can get started handling the problem.
This is immediately noticeable when you’re dealing with full outages. You lose productivity, and every minute that you spend fussing with the power to get back up and running, you’re losing money.
Your equipment can’t run, your employees are left standing around, and all around, it’s a huge waste, even if it’s just a 15-minute break.
When the power issue is less noticeable, such as fluctuations in voltage, you can still lose productivity. If it impacts how your machines work, even those small hiccups add up to big losses.
This can be a major issue when speed is crucial for your operation. Some companies put out tens of thousands of products per day, and short lulls in productivity or frequent hiccups can lower production by thousands of units. That’s why power quality matters. It directly affects your bottom line and keeps your operation running at full capacity.
When your equipment runs on your power grid, which most equipment does, power quality issues can prematurely damage that equipment. That’s why having a reliable power quality analyzer is so important. These devices are used to track, diagnose, and prevent expensive problems down the line.
Each machine is made to operate with a steady flow of electricity. If that flow suddenly slows or it’s halted entirely, the equipment can have minor operational errors that lead to bigger repair issues.
Complete sudden halts can be extremely detrimental because they often force the machinery to stop suddenly and without going through proper shutdown processes.
Not only does this cause major disruptions in productivity and a lot of headaches, but it also creates a lot of undue financial stress. When you suddenly have major repairs or have to replace unique equipment, the costs can be astronomical.
We mentioned this very briefly earlier, but any time your facility’s power quality causes a productivity lull, it’s not just your equipment that’s stopping. It’s your workforce, too.
If you have an electrical issue that costs you an hour of scheduled work time, you will often end up paying your workforce for that entire hour spent doing nothing. It’s boring for them, and it’s a waste of resources for you. Paired with the lack of production creating revenue throughout that period, the issue is compounded.
Resolving power quality issues can be a hassle. Anything that’s a widespread electrical issue takes specialized care to handle.
However, the first step is understanding that something is going on. Oftentimes, minor power quality issues go under the radar and cause cumulative damage over a long stretch of time. It’s not always as noticeable as when the power is fully cut regularly.
The best way to troubleshoot the problem is to regularly monitor your power quality, and you can certainly check it whenever a noticeable issue occurs, too. For that, you need precision measurement instruments for the power systems you’re working with.
At AQ Measurement, we provide all the precision measurement tools you need to troubleshoot, measure, and get the job done right. Contact us today to see how we can help!
