Regular maintenance, specialty welding and turnarounds all play important roles in ensuring the safety of your industrial operations, not to mention those working in and around them. After all, industrial operations are expansive structures with countless moving elements. Without the right parts and machinery — and vigilance to ensure everything remains working as it should — seemingly small issues can easily pass by undetected. And that paves the way for bigger trouble down the line.
When we refer to a plant turnaround, we are referring to a scheduled downtime for your industrial operations. Booked every three to five years or so, it presents an opportunity to shut down entire sections of your plant where you can then perform maintenance or repair work, make planned renovations, assess processes and ensure everything is operating in the safest, most efficient manner possible.
At CWSL we recognize that there is no “one size fits all” for plant turnarounds, in fact no two turnarounds are exactly alike. Schedules and activities will vary, based on the size of your plant, its age and your specific objectives.
As with all aspects of industrial operations — maintenance, specialty welding and turnarounds included — you’ll want to take a number of factors into consideration before determining your shutdown’s timing and details.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
CONSIDER THE CURRENT ENVIRONMENT
While every industrial operation must undergo shutdowns and turnarounds on a healthy schedule, virtually every operation has also been dealt somewhat of a blow in the recent past.
Due to social distancing concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many plants opted to put an all-out halt on turnaround activities in 2020.
As such, many of those same plants will find themselves jockeying for shutdowns on similar schedules moving forward.
The laws of supply and demand support the idea that turnaround support will likely be harder to come by through 2022 and the years immediately following. Some experts anticipate that prices associated with such activities will be on the rise. We recommend working to get your next plant turnaround on the books as quickly as possible, to ensure you have a spot when you need it.
CONSIDER YOUR OPERATIONS’ UNIQUE PRACTICES AND NEEDS
Plant turnarounds are much like any other necessary maintenance work.
While experts lay out suggested timeframes — in this case, turnarounds are recommended approximately every three to five years — every industrial plant is different.
If you have an older infrastructure in place turnarounds might need to happen more frequently.
For operations housed in brand-new industrial spaces with equally new equipment, however, chances are you can go a bit longer.
Such calculations are not to be taken lightly.
CWSL is happy to consult with you to determine how frequently you should get such work done on the books.
Of course, just as with home renovation work, turnarounds never go exactly according to plan. You’ll want to factor in a bit of wiggle room for things such as additional maintenance needs that arise.
CONSIDER THE FINANCIAL ELEMENT
There are no two ways about it — plant shutdowns are a costly undertaking. Depending on your unique situation, shutdowns can wind up costing a lot due to lost production, labor costs and the like.
These efforts are worth it in the long run, but you may want to consider pinpointing areas where you can safely cut costs.
First look at all the necessary work, and then prioritize that work accordingly.
Next consider renting the heavy machinery and industrial equipment, needed for the proper execution of your turnaround plans. This saves you having to make unnecessary hefty purchases.
Our industrial maintenance support services include:
Welding solutions
Mechanical and piping
Scaffolding
Sandblasting and Painting
Electrical and instrumentation
Our Industrial equipment rentals include but not limited to:
Lighting towers
Compressors
Pumps
Welding machines
Forklifts
Let us help you get the right equipment with dependable support.
We’ll help you determine what you need to get the job done right with a rental flexibility plan that best suits your needs.
When it comes to the crews you hire on to help with the heavy lifting associated with your shutdowns and turnarounds, you’ll want to make sure you’re working with folks you can trust to tackle the work correctly.
Take time to interview prospective companies and talk through the important issues. Make sure they understand your needs, plans and budget — and that they’re willing to work with you.
We suggest doing business with a crew that has far-reaching experience, as doing so allows a single team to take on multiple aspects of your work, from equipment installation to plant maintenance, specialty welding and turnarounds.
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