Erkan Teskancan
Corporate
- Thread Author
- #1
The Hidden Cost of Power Outages in Industrial Automation
In today's automated manufacturing facilities, even the briefest power disturbances can lead to significant production losses. For example, in 2025, a plastics manufacturer in Italy experienced over 600 short-duration power outages, which were considered acceptable according to general power quality standards. However, these outages caused production shutdowns and annual losses of approximately $223,000. A study conducted in Lithuania revealed that dangerous voltage sags cost companies between $5,500 and $8,900, and up to $25,300 per hour in full production efficiency.
The Ripple Effect of Power Outages
While a millisecond outage can reset a control device, a five-second outage can shut down an entire facility. Even if the lights come back on, it can take operators hours to safely restart the process. The real issue isn't how long the power is out, but how long it takes the production process to recover.
For instance, consider a line producing $10,000 worth of product per hour. A five-second outage could lead to a two-hour shutdown, resulting in $20,000 in lost production. Add to that scrapped material, overtime costs, and missed shipments, and that five-second event could escalate to a cost of $25,000 to $30,000. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, power outages cost American businesses approximately $150 billion annually. These figures make it imperative for companies to identify and protect their critical equipment.
Strategies for Identifying and Protecting Critical Systems
The first step is to examine equipment that controls the production line, such as programmable logic controllers (PLCs), computers, network switches, human-machine interfaces (HMIs), drives, robots, and control systems. This equipment is often the most sensitive to short-duration power outages. While a large motor might continue to run through a brief voltage sag, the small control system running it could shut down instantly.
One of the best ways to identify critical equipment is to walk the production line and ask, "What happens if this piece of equipment loses power for even one second?" Then, work backward by asking, "What happens if a control resets, a network crashes, or a drive faults?" The answers to these questions help pinpoint vital areas where an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) or other power protection solutions could prevent a shutdown.
It's also important to talk to operators and maintenance crews. They are the ones who best know what happens when equipment fails. This information helps the company determine what truly needs protection. Once sensitive equipment is identified, it's time to evaluate potential solutions to the power supply problem.
Minimizing Downtime and Recovery Time
Not the entire production line may need backup power. In many applications, backing up the entire line would be unnecessary and expensive. The priority might be to keep controls, communications, and other essential parts of the system running so that the process doesn't come to a complete halt.
Companies can also assess what their machines need to keep running and what those systems depend on. The answers to these questions help them identify the true critical load instead of connecting the entire factory to an expensive UPS.
Proactive Power Management
Don't wait to look at power issues until equipment starts shutting down. Backup power and power quality are different concepts. While a UPS or generator can help during an outage, companies also need to consider the quality of power their equipment receives every day.
Start by identifying core equipment, how it handles short outages, and how quickly the generator kicks in. Track when problems occur and compare those times to power-related events. The ultimate goal is not just to have backup power, but also to ensure clean, reliable power every day and to have backup power when needed.
While a UPS provides instant backup, a generator manages longer outages, and an isolation transformer or power conditioner helps provide cleaner, more stable power. Together, these three power protection and power quality solutions help manufacturers stay online and maintain uptime.
Sometimes, keeping the entire process running isn't practical. A UPS can be crucial for keeping the system's brain running. A large motor might shut down, but if the UPS keeps the controls, computers, and communications online, the system still knows what happened and where everything stopped. This can make recovery faster and easier. Protecting these critical controls can prevent a much larger shutdown and make recovery smoother. The UPS solution must work in conjunction with the machine's existing safety systems.
Electricity is an Integral Part of Production
Today's manufacturers should think of electricity not just as a bill, but as part of the production process. If compressed air changes during production, it's investigated. If raw materials change, it's investigated. If a process temperature changes, it's investigated. But when a machine randomly resets or a computer locks up, employees assume it's just a machine malfunction. Very few investigate the power. It is vital that power is also part of this troubleshooting conversation.
Companies need to start this conversation now, not after the power goes out, because that's the most expensive time to ask these questions. It's imperative for companies to start monitoring their power and identifying single points of failure. By understanding their production processes, they can create proactive solutions for power disasters.
