Have you planned for the annual plant shutdown?

Here in New Zealand we are beginning to see the warmer summer days move in, with this focus moves from heating to cooling.

Now is the time to consider your equipments condition and book in a service before the hot summer hits, please “do not wait” until late December to look for your spare parts as a lot of the world’s heat exchangers are manufactured in Europe and despite your local distributors’ best endeavours, planning is the only way of ensuring you will have the important spare parts required to reassemble and repair your Plate heat exchanger.

Reminder – Europe closes down for Christmas as well and obtaining parts is often a first in, first serve, basis. We have seen parts lost by freight forwarders, shipments delivered to the wrong destination in the end-ofyear mayhem, and even had a distribution plant locked down and isolated by snowstorms. So please plan your spare parts well in advance.

Technically the break is only meant to be two weeks long, but with many plants shutting down in two halves (with different areas of the business closing shop at different times), this can often end up being a fourweek interruption.

The effects of this might not be immediately apparent on this side of the world, but it does have substantial implications for purchasing and project planning. With long delivery times ex-EURO expected, it is essential to get your orders in well beforehand – or there may well be many others in front of you.

By understanding how the annual shutdown works and making preparations in advance, you can ensure you’re heading into the tail end of the year without major disruptions in delivery and delay in operation start up in the New Year.