Monthly Automation insight at a glance. This month:
Guide to Automation Audits (And Why You Need One) – Download the PDF
Why The “If It Ain’t Broke” Strategy is a Ticking Time Bomb
From $20,000-per-minute failures to musical air valves—here is why you need to check your systems this January.
The Cautionary Tale: The $50 Billion Problem
We get it. “Auditing” sounds like something the tax man does. But in manufacturing, the “ostrich strategy”—burying your head in the sand until a breakdown happens—is costing the industry billions.
Recent data suggests that unplanned downtime costs industrial manufacturers a staggering $50 billion annually. In high-stakes sectors, a single stopped line can burn through $22,000 to $50,000 per minute.
The Real Danger: The most common culprit isn’t a catastrophic explosion; it’s obsolescence. More than 50% of facilities are currently running on control systems that are over a decade old. When that legacy PLC finally quits, you aren’t just paying for a replacement; you’re paying for days of silence while you scour the internet for a part that hasn’t been manufactured since 2010.
The Success Story: Modernizing a Historic Distillery
Audits aren’t just about finding problems; they are about unlocking potential.
Consider a heritage distillery that was recently running on a legacy control system. It offered almost no visibility into their process—operators were flying blind, reacting to issues only after they occurred. By auditing their needs and upgrading to a modern, open SCADA architecture, they didn’t just “fix” a broken process—they transformed it.
The new system gave them mobile-responsive control, real-time historical data access, and high-performance alarming. They moved from “keeping the lights on” to having deep, data-driven insights into their production batches. An audit was the first step in moving from surviving to optimizing.
On a Lighter Note: The “Vuvuzela” Valve
Sometimes, an audit reveals the “human touch” left behind by previous engineers.
One engineer on a site walkthrough noticed a peculiar note on an I/O drawing. A loud pneumatic vent solenoid had been originally labeled “VENT TO ATMOSPHERE.” But because of a kink in the airline, it made a deafening, trumpet-like noise every time it fired.
During a previous logic update, a cheeky programmer had officially renamed the output in the code to “VENT TO VUVUZELA.” It allegedly stayed that way for years, entertaining (or annoying) anyone who opened the cabinet.
The Lesson
You never know what “creative” logic or mechanical quirks are hiding in your panels until you actually look.
The 10-Minute Audit: Start Your Baseline
You don’t need a clipboard and a week of downtime to get started. You just need a baseline.
We built the Controls & Automation Checklist Generator to help you identify your specific risks—whether it’s an obsolete PLC, a “Vuvuzela” valve, or a safety curtain that’s seen better days.
How It Works:
- Select Your Hardware: Tick the boxes for the systems you actually have (PLCs, VFDs, HMIs).
- Get Your Red Flags: The tool generates a custom list of specific risks associated with your equipment.
- Walk the Floor: Use your custom list to catch the hidden risks before they become downtime statistics.
