Pumps maintenance needs to combine DIY with good advice
22 Jul 2019
Do it Yourself is a motto best applied with caution within the increasingly refined pumps systems arena.
Industry 3.0 in the shape of factory automation and Industry 4.0, encompassed within digitalisation, leaves one more rather than less reliant on the expertise that normally resides with those outside the business.
Yet that dependence on informed sources is only half the picture. The goal when developing more comprehensively able product is to make the job easier for the customer, in order that they can harness the technology in pursuit of their own objectives.
Where industry is concerned, pumps play a vital part in promoting energy efficiency and, for much of the time a good product proceeds with the job in hand without human intervention. Then, when what is required is a substantial level of expertise, specialist external advice is likely to be needed.
Yet there is still a part for others closer to the workface to play. By focusing on investment rather than purchase price, favouring product capable of a considerable degree of self-maintenance and ensuring customer control of verification processes, for example.
Also, by mastering the more straightforward aspects of auditing, being willing to identify personnel for the job and earmarking both time and money to ensure their success in the role.
There is a not-so-thin line between risking all on the abilities of poorly trained staff and winging it on the one hand; or, on the other hand, placing everything and one’s budget at the mercy of external consultants.
Mastering a simple appreciation of terminology and equipment makes it easier to communicate with experts and technology. Getting to grips with pumps may be akin to learning a foreign language but it need not be all double Dutch.
