When a piece of equipment goes down, the cost isn’t limited to the replacement part.
Production stops. Employees wait. Maintenance gets pulled away from other projects. Orders can fall behind. Scrap and quality issues can increase. And depending on the process, a few minutes of downtime can quickly become a very expensive problem.
That’s why reliability should be considered during the design process, not after equipment begins to fail.
Downtime Costs More Than You Think
A previous EXAIR application provides a great example.
At an aluminum rodding facility, material accumulating underneath conveyors required regular cleaning and contributed to premature conveyor component failures. The problem was costing the facility more than $85,000 per year in cleaning expenses and approximately 7,100 minutes of unscheduled downtime.
EXAIR Super Air Knives were installed to prevent the material from accumulating underneath the conveyors. The total implementation cost was approximately $16,000, with the cleaning-cost savings alone producing a payback of less than three months.
Once downtime and reduced conveyor maintenance were considered, the return was even faster.
That example highlights an important point:
The purchase price of equipment is only one part of its true cost.
What Does an Hour of Downtime Really Cost?
The answer will be different for every facility.
When production stops, consider everything happening around that machine:
- Lost production and throughput
- Maintenance labor
- Operator downtime
- Overtime required to catch back up
- Replacement parts
- Scrap or damaged product
- Expedited shipping
- Missed delivery dates
- Reduced equipment life
- Customer dissatisfaction
A $500 component failure can easily create thousands of dollars in losses when everything surrounding that failure is considered.
Design the Failure Points Out
One way engineers can improve reliability is by reducing the number of components that can fail in the first place.
Many EXAIR products operate using compressed air with no moving parts.
There are no electric motors at the point of use. No bearings to replace. No belts to break. No gears to lubricate.
This design principle is used throughout products such as Super Air Knives, Air Nozzles, Air Amplifiers, Vortex Tubes, Cabinet Coolers, Line Vacs and E-Vacs.
Fewer moving components mean fewer opportunities for mechanical wear and unexpected failure.
Look Beyond the Purchase Price
The lowest initial purchase price isn’t necessarily the lowest-cost solution.
When evaluating equipment, consider its total cost of ownership:
Purchase Price + Installation + Maintenance + Replacement Parts + Downtime + Lost Production
A solution that costs slightly more initially but operates reliably for years can quickly become the less expensive option.
EXAIR has previously demonstrated this concept when comparing Cabinet Coolers with traditional refrigerant-based enclosure air conditioners. With no moving parts in the cooling device, Cabinet Coolers eliminate many of the motors and mechanical components that require periodic maintenance or replacement.
Reliability Has an ROI
Preventing downtime isn’t simply a maintenance objective.
It’s a productivity strategy.
Every failure point you can eliminate helps protect production, maintenance resources, delivery schedules and ultimately your bottom line.
When evaluating your next blowoff, cooling, conveying or vacuum application, don’t just ask:
“What does this solution cost?”
Ask:
“What could it cost us when this solution stops working?”
Sometimes the best way to reduce the cost of downtime is to design the potential failure out of the process entirely.
Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer
E: JordanShouse@exair.com
O: (513) 671‑3322
F: (513) 671‑3363
A: 11510 Goldcoast Dr Cincinnati OH 45249
www.exair.com
