Investing in an industrial air compressor for your factory is a significant purchase. With a high up-front cost, you want to ensure you keep your compressor working properly for as long as possible. Part of keeping equipment functioning at peak levels is creating and performing routine maintenance tasks.
Why Air Compressor Maintenance Matters
There are several factors to consider when determining whether a maintenance schedule is worthwhile for your industrial application. Preparing a maintenance schedule may seem complex and overwhelming, but without a proper air compressor maintenance schedule, you may encounter several consequences. These consequences typically fall into one of three categories:
Financial Consequences
A lack of a maintenance schedule can have significant financial impacts on your business, potentially costing you a considerable sum of money.
- Elevated Repair Costs: What may at first seem like a small issue can quickly develop into more significant issues if left unchecked. Ignoring problems with your equipment that seem insignificant can lead to significant damage, resulting in higher-than-anticipated repair costs.
- Excess Energy Expenditure: Whether it’s clogged filters, damaged parts, or air leaks, issues with your compressor’s ability to function properly result in the equipment having to work harder to handle the workload, which can lead not only to overheating but also to excess energy consumption, increasing your electricity bill. Bill increases may happen slowly over time if not checked regularly, and costs can add up quickly.
- Monetary loss: Serious issues with your industrial air compressors can result in you having to halt production entirely, especially if you’re depending on your compressor to complete orders. Failing to provide your clients with the products they need in a timely manner can lead to customers questioning your reliability, resulting in lost future orders and negatively impacting your day-to-day profit margins.
Operational Consequences
The absence of appropriate maintenance practices can impact the overall operation of your application in several ways.
- Reduction in equipment lifespan: Since an industrial air compressor is a significant investment, you want to ensure it runs for as long as possible before needing replacement. Without maintenance practices in place, you risk significantly decreasing the overall lifespan of your compressor. Proper cleaning and part replacements help to extend the life of your equipment and keep it running at a high level of efficiency.
- Unexpected downtime: When maintenance issues are left unnoticed, they can cause problems that require emergency repair services at the worst times, halting production efforts altogether. Unexpectedly having to halt production can cost your business money and may even cost the trust of your customers, particularly when it comes to large or rush orders. Avoiding downtime through regular maintenance helps you keep production running smoothly, allowing you to fulfill orders appropriately and showing your clients they can rely on you to get things done.
- Impact on equipment efficiency: Reducing the efficiency of your air compressor impacts your business’s rate of production, resulting in your entire system slowing down. As a result, you risk being unable to fulfill orders in a timely fashion, possibly losing clients.
Safety Consequences
Employee and production safety are of the utmost importance. Without maintenance practices, you risk both the well-being of your employees and the safety of your entire facility.
- Increased risk of fire: If you neglect to maintain your industrial air compressor, it may run low on oil. Lack of proper lubrication can quickly cause your system to overheat. Debris buildup and a malfunctioning cooling system can also cause your system to overheat, risking a fire within your facility. This risk endangers not only your employees, but your entire factory.
- Neglect of regulation requirements: Safety regulations are put in place for good reason. Disregarding these regulations is not only dangerous, but it can also result in legal action against your company.
- Poor air quality: Air quality concerns are a major factor in any industrial factory. Air quality must be maintained to keep factory workers safe. Without proper maintenance, air compressors can potentially compromise air quality within industrial settings.
- Client/Employee Relationship Impacts: The two most important groups of people for industrial business owners are their employees and their clients. Improper maintenance can result in a lack of trust between owners and both of these groups.
- Customer reliability: The perceived reliability of your business is of the utmost importance. If clients don’t believe they can count on your business to fulfill orders on time, they may look for other product providers.
- Employee trust: When employees have to ‘make it work’ with equipment that isn’t in good shape, it can quickly build frustration. If they feel like they are being forced to operate in less-than-ideal circumstances, they may build resentment and eventually opt to search for work elsewhere.
As President of Engineering Sales Associates in Charlotte, NC, Arthur Pue leads a veteran-owned company with more than 60 years of service to the industry. His experience as a veteran and business leader reinforces ESA’s reputation for dependable, results-driven solutions. Arthur ensures clients receive expert support for their most critical systems.
