It is no surprise that Q4 is one of the most critical fiscal year periods, from major back-to-back shopping events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the Holiday season. The rapid expansion in consumption causes pressure on companies to deliver to the modern consumer at an ever-increasing pace.
The “Golden Quarter” (Q4) is critical for retailers and logistic providers. Businesses must meticulously plan to meet consumers’ heightened expectations, managing vastly increased manufacturing volumes and ensuring they deliver products on tight schedules.
The Food & Beverage and Logistics industries take this demand within their stride. Paul Empson (General Manager of Bakers Basco) remarks, “October through December is one of the most critical periods for the grocery Supply chain”.
Challenges arise in the logistics sector; up to 40% extra stock will be needed during this period to ensure consumer satisfaction. Many spend the previous quarters preparing to fulfil this quotation, guaranteeing a smooth last quarter.
Why should you maintain an automated system?
The importance of “The Golden Quarter” stresses the need to maintain an automated system. Downtime will reduce profits and negatively affect consumer confidence in your brand. Preventive maintenance is critical to stop downtime, eliminating the possibility of adverse effects during this peak season.
It is common knowledge that including an automated system will reduce operating costs and increase the efficiency and accuracy of the line, positively impacting profits. The flexibility and scalability of automated systems enable customers to proactively adapt to their market. Moreover, processes can be refined further through the data collated by these systems, supporting future improvement.
Increasing availability and Reliability
While increased profit and production capabilities are critical benefits of automation, you must also remember reliability and availability. Each sector will receive different benefits. Yet, it mainly centres around increased product handling capabilities, amplified transporting speed and reliability, and improved traceability.
Consequently, if these systems do not receive maintenance, the likelihood of achieving these benefits will dwindle. With your automation capabilities reducing, your production capabilities will drastically reduce, leading to lower customer retention, due to a loss of confidence in your consumers.
How does Elmleigh Maintain Automated Systems?
At Elmleigh, we understand the importance of a fully functioning automated system. We take pride in supporting the development of our client’s systems, so maintenance is part and parcel of our role within your factory.
As our history resides in installing automation systems, we are confident in our ability to assess your systems to ensure they run at their full capabilities. Our thorough assessment inspects our clients' systems' condition, performance, and functionality.
We delve deeper into the system’s mechanisms, evaluating the current performance, checking for fraying or exposed wiring and reviewing the capabilities of the control panel system. By conducting these tests, Elmleigh can detect potential issues within the system, enabling us to solve them before the fault occurs.
Our skills are not just for our current clients; we enjoy supporting new clients with their growth, supporting their factories, and ensuring reduced downtime. We will collaborate closely with clients, identifying the project’s scope and prioritising tasks based on the client’s needs.
Internal Growth within Elmleigh means we can provide our clients with a comprehensive service, providing support for electrical, mechanical, and software-related issues. If, during the process, we find that the current system is close to obsolescence, we will provide support with the next steps to upgrading your systems to improve throughput and energy efficiency.
Do you need planned maintenance support?
Our team is here to support you with your factories. We know that every automation system is different, yet our skill within the industry enables our teams to work flexibly with these systems. We ensure we deliver an efficient project to our clients and work to the highest standards.
If you want to ensure your automated system is working at full capacity, we are here to help. Contact us by filling out our contact form or calling 01455 847045. We can answer any questions you have about our maintenance service.