Successful material processing equipment installations don’t happen by osmosis.
It takes careful planning and a keen understanding of how your equipment works to avoid the kinds of hiccups that can lead to installation delays, unplanned construction costs and ultimately lost production time.
Over the years, Marion’s field service technicians have been involved in hundreds of installations on equipment ranging from horizontal mixers and lump breakers to V-cone and double cone blenders. Some we’ve overseen directly and others required our team to be brought in after the fact to address a costly mistake.
Fortunately, many of these mistakes can easily be avoided if you know what to look out for ahead of time. To ensure your next equipment install goes smoothly, here are three of the most common mistakes we’ve seen (and what you can do to address them).
It may sound like common sense, but having work done by people who don’t fully understand how your equipment works can really cost you. In one case, we were called into a facility where the mixer was running backwards after an electrician installed new controls incorrectly.
Many times we’ve been called to fix burned out chopper motors that could have been easily prevented had someone followed the equipment’s maximum allowed run times. Even more frequently, we’ve seen screens that were installed up-side-down, which had a direct impact on performance and product quality.
To avoid these kinds of issues, it’s a good idea to have the equipment manufacturer on-site to provide startup assistance. That way, they can chime in and provide assurance that your contractor or staff is following the right procedures.
The good news is that many of these common mistakes can be averted simply by having a knowledgeable technician on-site to supervise the installation and start-up process. While it can be tempting for customers to take on these responsibilities by themselves, it is not always in their best interest to do so.
Want more education on servicing your processing equipment?
Check out these resources:
“3 Mixer and Blender Parts to Keep on Hand to Avoid Downtime”
“The 6 Things to Check Before Ordering Processing Equipment Parts”
“When Refurbishing Makes More Sense than Buying New”