Do not go into the Summer without knowing your transformers are operating within safe limits.
1. A Bulletproof Process
Recently, the plant manager of a Goshen manufacturing facility explained to me why they had installed redundant air compressors in the facility, “If our compressor fails, we’re losing $9,000 an hour.” With redundancies in place, they were bulletproof…almost.
2. You May Be Shocked to Learn
In 2020, Tactical Energy Group found that 2 in every 10 manufacturing facilities in Michiana were operating with at least one dangerously overloaded transformer. Incredibly, neither the owners nor their utility providers were aware of these dangerous problems.
Forget redundancies for a specific process, transformer failure can take an entire facility offline for days. You may think that your utility provider is watching to make sure your transformers are operating within safe limits, but based on our observations, this is not happening. Equipment often fails before it is replaced.
3. Why Is This Happening?
The utility world is complicated. Your production managers and facility operators likely think of energy in terms of Amps but utility data at the meter is measured in terms of Kilowatts and Kilowatt Hours. What makes this equation even more confusing is that transformer capacity is measured in terms of Kilovolt Amps or KVA. When all parties are speaking different languages, it is easy to add more demand to a transformer than it can safely handle without anyone knowing.
4. Are You at Risk?
Your business has probably grown a lot since you first plugged into the grid and so has the load you are placing on your transformers. Are you prepared to service your manufacturing contracts in the event of a catastrophic transformer failure? You should not go into the hot summer without knowing your transformers are operating within safe limits. Heat adds stress and risk to an already overloaded transformer.
5. An Easy Solution
Understanding your transformer’s capacity and load is the best way to ensure that catastrophic transformer failure doesn’t disrupt production, costing you time and money and potentially damaging your reputation for reliability. TEG checks to make sure our client’s transformers are operating within safe limits and helps them take steps to protect their operations if they are not. You can put your mind at ease by setting up a free analysis today!
