Painting Your Manufacturing Facility Without Stopping or Slowing Production
As a manufacturing facility manager, you know the importance of keeping up with optimal production rates. When production stays on schedule, you look good, your employees look good, and your facility looks good. So, it’s understandable that you might be reluctant to schedule potentially production-stopping maintenance. It’s just going to throw a wrench into your well-oiled machine and knock down production until it’s completed.
Or is it?
First, staying on top of industrial facility maintenance—such as painting or repainting walls, coating steel structures, line marking & safety striping, and even equipment painting—might seem time consuming and unnecessary when everything is running smoothly, but proactive maintenance can improve your facility’s productivity over time and help to eliminate unnecessary downtime caused by degrading equipment.
The key is balance, and balance means performing maintenance in a way that it doesn’t have a significant negative impact on productivity. Keep reading to see how it’s done.
How to Eliminate or Reduce Production Downtime
Is it possible for a painting project to take place at a production facility without closing it down or causing substantial downtime? Absolutely! But it all depends on the industrial painting contractor you choose to work with. If your goal is to minimize downtime, make sure you choose a contractor who has flexible scheduling and who is prepared to work with the staff at the facility to accommodate everyone’s needs.
Keep in mind that, sometimes, downtime is simply unavoidable. Some of the factors to keep in mind are:
- The safety of the facility staff.
- The safety of the painting crew.
- The facility’s quality of work.
- The painting project’s quality of work.
However, there are a few things you can do to reduce unavoidable downtime. That includes coordinating with your industrial painting contractor to make sure the painting crew and facility employees are working in different areas and allowing your painting contractor to work on the project at times when your facility isn’t as active, such as at night or during closures.
The Most Important Factors to Consider About Your Painting Contractor
Before starting your facility’s painting project, make sure to sit down and map out your ideal timeline so you and your industrial painting contractor have something to work with. You should have an idea of how long the project should take, and your contractor should be able to give you a more detailed estimate of the completion time. You should also know how many facility employees typically work in the areas being painted and know when those areas are least active. Those will be your ideal painting times.
Another very important factor to keep in mind is the industrial painting contractor you work with. They’ll likely be working alongside your staff for a few hours, or even days, so make sure you select someone with a professional crew.
Working with an experienced contractor comes with a huge benefit. They’ll be able to make suggestions for eliminating or reducing downtime and provide insights into the project you might not have considered otherwise.
You’ll also want to pay attention to the cost of the project and the quality of work you can expect. Don’t settle for anything less than the best.
Choose an Industrial Painting Company You Can Trust
As mentioned above, selecting an industrial painting contractor with experience is a must. Not just experience painting the walls, structures, and equipment you need painted, but experience working with facility managers to reduce or eliminate production downtime. That ability to be flexible with scheduling and help you maintain your production rates is huge when it comes to manufacturing.
A&K Painting has years of experience working with industrial facilities to complete painting projects and maintenance without disrupting production. Call today to learn more about how we can help you, too.
