Day: January 10, 2018

You can save money by using building intelligence to reduce maintenance costs and target special needs like winterization. Regular maintenance makes equipment last longer and reduces repair costs, and checking in, as winter has arrived, is imperative to ensure all equipment functions properly and optimally throughout the harsh season.

Targeting Operations and Equipment for Winterizing

You can save money and improve productivity by properly winterizing your operations. You’ll reduce chances of damage caused by freezing temperatures, equipment malfunctions, and enable employees to get more done, more efficiently.

Start by preparing your building. Ensure seals are tight on windows and doors. Inspect the building’s insulation. Fill in gaps and add thickness, covering spaces where necessary. You need a minimum of four inches of insulation in walls, ceilings, and attics. Cover air conditioning vents with custom-fitted wood or plastic seals. Prepare your equipment, especially the furnace and backup generators, with fresh oil and fluids. Check coolant levels on refrigeration equipment and cooling mechanisms that keep manufacturing equipment from overheating.

The outside of your building needs attention, too. Clean its roof drains, catch basins, and storm drains. Keep them clear all year round because in winter, precipitation, especially snow, can clog the system. A clogged system causes snow to accumulate on the roof. This extra weight can cause leaks, holes, and cave and.

Move your fleet inside. You’ll save yourself from having to dig out your vehicles, prevent damage from winter precipitation and winds, and preserve engine health by keeping each vehicle’s fluids from freezing and turning solid. Detach and properly store attachments not used in cold weather months to prevent joint and hinge damage. Check fluid levels and top off or replace each vehicle’s engine, hydraulic, final drive, and transmission fluids.

Store and recharge batteries indoors. Keeping them warm improves performance.

Inflate all tires and check them regularly to ensure they are properly inflated. Tires deflate more quickly in cold weather. Check each vehicle’s owner manual for specific recommendations. For instance, Caterpillar recommends inflating tires on its equipment with dry nitrogen gas (DNG). Using DNG helps eliminate ice crystals from forcing open the tire’s valve stem. Of course, an open valve stem causes deflation.

How Performance Solutions Can Help

We offer solutions of automated building intelligence for efficient upkeep your building and equipment. Our products enable you to make maintenance and replacement decisions based upon hard data from all your organization’s sources, including siloed metering systems. You’ll be able to defer (unnecessary) maintenance and upgrade truly necessary items as needed. We turn your company’s automated data from machinery, equipment, and building elements into actionable, analyzed data in a comprehensive form. We conduct a gap analysis and provide the expertise and technology to provide a complete, constantly up-to-date picture of your operations and equipment. You can cut costs and improve efficiency through automation. Contact us to learn how easy it is to save money, extend equipment life, and reduce building wear and tear.