When industrial plant downtime can cost more than £10,000 per hour, companies must have emergency plans in place. For an international dairy manufacturer, Radwell’s Automation Lifecycle Analysis offered an emergency plan packaged in a solution that optimises obsolescence management in a comprehensive and proactive way.

Everyone knows how quickly technology evolves and innovates, rendering yesterday’s models passé, and sometimes even obsolete – what with all the enhancements and updates that come with the gadgets, devices or machines used today. 

“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” The words of legendary innovator Alexander Graham Bell. And, of course, we know this to be true both in business and in the manufacturing environment. It is critical to plan ahead, but some things are harder to plan for than others, even when we know they’re coming. 

“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” The words of legendary innovator Alexander Graham Bell. And, of course, we know this to be true both in business and in the manufacturing environment. It is critical to plan ahead, but some things are harder to plan for than others, even when we know they’re coming. 

The product lifecycle of a technical system is often longer in practise than the availability of spare parts. Every day, manufacturers worldwide are discontinuing products, so their end of life is announced. This affects not only the systems manufacturer but largely the operator of the plant. The machine down risk for a defective component within the system increases. While it was common practise a few years ago to stock critical components, it was soon removed in respect of warehouse costs and the tied-up capital and replaced by just-in-time inventory availability by the manufactures or distributors.