How welding equipment by Red-D-Arc factors into successful shutdown

Red-D-Arc recommends six steps for plant shutdown.

Red-D-Arc Welderentals serves many customers in many industries with welding equipment, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company knows that plant shutdowns are inevitable even in normal times, and plant maintenance is essential for optimizing peak performance. Some organizations are taking advantage of the current crisis to conduct major maintenance.

Using its industry expertise, Red-D-Arc recently posted a blog entry discussing six crucial steps in managing a successful facility turnaround while factoring in welding solutions.

From scope management to restarting

The six steps in managing plant shutdowns:

1. Planning and scope management. Detailed project management is necessary to turn a plant around, according to Red-D-Arc. Managing complex maintenance regarding cost, time, and quality is vital. Stakeholder involvement also plays an important role, and hiring plant-turnaround service providers can help. Welding solutions can come into play if a defective pipeline weld needs long-term repair, for example.
2. Cost management. Plant shutdowns can be costly, but lack of routine equipment maintenance can stifle productivity. When welding equipment breaks down, it can be a headache for sectors that rely heavily on it. One solution is preventable cost-efficiency: divide the cost of service per hour by the cost of maintenance per hour. It could be a choice between paying $10 now for preventive maintenance or more later for repairs.
3. Schedule management. To finish turnaround quickly, efficient resource management is the key. Group maintenance systems into routine, predictive, breakdown, and preventive. Two value-based Red-D-Arc solutions that help achieve essential objectives in short periods of time: orbital welders, which minimize time with gear-driven track ring systems, and multi-process welders, with their high versatility.
4. Inspection and execution. Welding engineers should conduct material inspection alongside planning phases, before procurement, to determine priorities. For accuracy, cut the weld material for laboratory analysis and identify minimum requirements for welding process, electrodes, preheating and post-weld requirements, heat input control, and defect removal.
5. Quality control. Perform safety regulations onsite for welded components according to ANSI Z49.1: Safety in Cutting, Welding, and Allied Processes.
6. Restart. Final inspection should be conducted for testing and commissioning.

For more information, contact Red-D-Arc.

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