ICS Cool Energy releases guide for manufacturers suffering in the sun

Britain’s notoriously changeable weather can cause havoc for manufacturers ill-prepared for seasonal temperature spikes, a supplier of temperature control equipment has warned.

Richard Metcalfe, Director at ICS Cool Energy, has highlighted the impact of summer sun on a site’s ambient temperature - temperature control equipment is a fundamental manufacturing tool for both process-specific cooling, but if precautionary measures are ignored, ageing, underspecified or poorly maintained equipment can struggle to cope when temperatures spike over and above 30˚C, according to a new guide on eradicating summer downtime by ICS Cool Energy.

With consequences ranging from short-term production downtime, to full mechanical failure and replacement of kit; leaving production equipment unprotected when temperatures spike can have a devastating effect on a manufacturer’s finances. Yet, by actioning any of a small number of short and long-term contingency measures – from a simple service through to planned short-term temporary cooling hire, the negative seasonal effects on production processes can be mitigated.

Richard Metcalfe, Sales Director at ICS Cool Energy, at ICS Cool Energy, comments: “Often the British summertime is laughed off as an underwhelming period of overcast days peaking around 22˚C. Yet, as we have already seen in June 2017 – with five consecutive days witnessing temperatures of 30˚C or over – there are days where the ambient air temperature will exceed the nominal specification for much of the pre-existing cooling equipment in operation across the UK’s manufacturing industry. It is these days which can cost manufacturers hundreds of thousands of pounds in production downtime and remedial work.

“Flaws, which in 95 per cent of operating conditions go unnoticed, come to the fore when an industrial cooling system is placed under real strain. Equipment with a nominal specification in the mid-to-late twenties will start to struggle, and mechanical functions which are six, seven, or more years of age will again find it difficult to generate the level of mechanical cooling required to prevent overheating.

“Crucially, these problems can – for the most part – be avoided by simply planning ahead. Not everyone will need to make wholesale changes or purchase new equipment, but acknowledging the issue exists is the first step. There’s no guarantee we’ve seen the last of the extreme temperatures for this year, and to help manufacturers across the country safeguard their temperature control equipment against seasonal temperature spikes, we have created a free-to-download guide which outlines the common causes of production downtime, and the short and long-term solutions available.”