The Importance of Industrial Plant Maintenance

industrial plant maintenance worker

Maintenance of industrial plants can seem like a never-ending chore, but it’s important to understand the end goal: putting processes in place that will save money, increase the reliability of your facility, keep it clean, and protect your employees.

 There are several types of plant maintenance services and approaches, but they will largely fall into one of two categories. The first is reactive maintenance, or fixing challenges as they occur. The second approach, proactive maintenance, includes measures that will keep your facility running, optimize employee safety, and incorporate a routine industrial plant cleaning as part of the plan.

Reactive Maintenance of Industrial Plants?

Reactive plant maintenance is a “wait and see” approach, opting to address problems as they arise. Since reactive maintenance only happens when problems occur, it may seem like a good cost-savings idea…on the surface.

 Unfortunately, the money you may have saved by not performing routine maintenance will ultimately be overshadowed by the costs incurred to remediate these problems. Repairs are costly enough but add production loss and potential regulatory and safety violations onto the bill and you will find that what seemed like a great way to save money will cost you significantly more in the end.

 Reactive maintenance can also have catastrophic consequences that can impact the environment, such as spills and hazmat incidents. When there is a spill, you will need professionals to mitigate it, further adding to the costs of being reactive rather than proactive.

Proactive Industrial Plant Maintenance

As the name implies, proactive maintenance involves routine care of your facility before issues arise. It is a plan set in place to protect your facility from potential equipment failure and or regulatory fines. A proactive maintenance strategy will save money, increase safety, and decrease production loss.

 A good proactive maintenance plan starts with regular inspections designed to detect and address minor issues. This approach will also include performing routine tasks needed to keep your facility and equipment running optimally.

 Thinking proactively about industrial plant maintenance is beneficial because it:

  •     Eliminates unexpected downtime
  •     Eliminates production loss caused by failure
  •     Minimizes remediation costs
  •     Mitigates equipment and facility devaluation
  •     Keeps facility compliant to regulatory requirements
  •     Keeps employees safe

 Proactive maintenance is more than just tightening a few nuts and bolts and includes industrial cleaning of both the equipment and facility. Industrial plant cleaning is more than wiping down equipment or mopping the floor. These cleaning tasks can be very detailed, such as cleaning small lines, drains, or even dangerous, such as cleaning in a confined space, vacuum truck extraction or high-powered pressure washing of an oil/water separator tank.

Why do I Need Industrial Plant Cleaning Services for My Operation?

Your proactive maintenance plan should be divided into simple upkeep tasks, such as maintaining equipment, which can be done by your technicians and engineers, and those requiring special skills and equipment, like industrial cleaning.

ACE specializes in industrial plant cleaning services, such as:

  • All State regulated facility maintenance requirements
  • 24/7 Emergency Spill Response
  • Vacuum Truck Extraction both wet & dry material
  • General site maintenance
  • High powered water blasting and pressure washing
  • Tank cleaning
  • Confined space entry
  • Line cleaning
  • Pipe/Duct cleaning
  • Oil/water separator cleaning
  • Grit chamber cleaning
  • CCTV inspections
  • Storm water control systems

Your technicians can handle the general upkeep of machinery, but industrial plant cleaning is best left to experienced professionals who have the right tools for the job.