The power grid that every business relies upon to connect, inform and fuel their operations consists of an aging collection of power generation, transmission facilities and distribution facilities, some of which date as far back as the 1880’s. When one combines this aging infrastructure with our relentless thirst for more power as more businesses add more devices to more aspects of their operations, the margin for error within our power ecosystem has become extremely thin.
It comes as no surprise, then, that power outages have become commonplace. According to MPH Online, in the last two decades, power outages in the US have increased by 124 percent, leaving over 500,000 people affected by power outages every day.
Clearly, power outages are significant – and costly – problems. However, there is another power issue lurking, quietly, without much fanfare or analysis, behind every faceplate covering every outlet in every business in America. This “silent stalker” of equipment lifespan, employee productivity and corporate profits is known by many aliases – sags, surges, brownouts and overages, to name a few –but equipment and operations managers everywhere looking to improve productivity and profitability should get to know this silent stalker by one name: power quality.
Fluctuations in power quality are far more common than power outages, often happening multiple times a day, frequently simultaneously, and typically without attracting attention or fanfare. Most often, these power fluctuations are relatively minor, and as such they inflict correspondingly minor damages to equipment.
Because most power fluctuations do not cause immediate equipment failure, they often go unnoticed, making it very difficult to estimate the cumulative long-term costs of power quality fluctuations. However, over time, small damages take their toll on sensitive equipment, and analysts agree that any estimates of the cumulative costs, if ever successfully evaluated, would likely reveal staggering numbers.
Every time a power fluctuation occurs, the performance and lifespan of the equipment that powers our economy is compromised. Over time, as power fluctuations inevitably mount, so do failures. When electronic equipment does fail, the costs add up quickly as productivity declines, output is reduced, and the customer experience invariably suffers. Additionally, equipment failures require field service calls that force the business to incur time, administrative and financial costs in order to restore the electronics to optimal performance.
Clearly, the costs and challenges associated with equipment failures caused by power quality issues are significant. To better understand these costs and how businesses intend to control these costs going forward, Innovolt sponsored a survey of almost 100 executives from several industries that are particularly dependent upon the reliability, performance and lifespan of sensitive electronic equipment: gaming, office equipment, ATM, vending, retail and parking.
The study, entitled “Unreliable Energy and the Rising Costs of Field Service,” conducted by Gatepoint Research in the fall of 2013, revealed that the electronic equipment business depends upon to power performance has a long history of requiring high levels of attention and maintenance. Almost a third of companies surveyed (28 percent) indicate that at least 25 percent of their assets require service every month.
Servicing these assets is an expensive proposition. Compounding matters, there seems to be a correlation between the number of machines deployed and the cost of service calls. Almost 75 percent of respondents with more than 1,000 assets deployed indicate that each service call costs over $150, including travel, parts, labor and call center expenses.
Obviously, in addition to hard service costs, the longer machines are down, the greater the impact to productivity, revenue and customer satisfaction. Unfortunately, the executives surveyed report a poor track record when it comes to getting down equipment back online. While almost a quarter of respondents indicated that it typically takes less than an hour to bring down electronics back online (admittedly a very high bar for most operations), unfortunately almost as many respondents – fully twenty percent — indicated that it typically takes longer than 24 hours to bring failed equipment back online.
Given the well-documented relationship between power quality fluctuations and electronic asset performance, it seems shocking that only twenty-one percent of the executives surveyed reported that they have high levels of visibility into power disturbances that impact those electronic assets. Perhaps more shocking is the fact that more executives (29 percent) reported having no visibility into power disturbance issues than those reporting high levels of visibility, and overall, 75 percent of executives surveyed reported having either limited visibility or no visibility whatsoever.
When asked to look forward, executives see a wide variety of challenges facing their organizations as they attempt to leverage electronic assets to maximize revenue and valuation in an era of almost constant economic uncertainty and relentless competitive pressure. While competition tops the list of issues their business will be forced to confront during the next three years, lining up closely behind are the rising costs of servicing electronic equipment, with over 93 percent of respondents expressing concern. The good news is that while the majority of businesses today have poor visibility into power fluctuations, most executives have begun to recognize that their future success will largely be dependent upon their ability to manage the performance, maintenance and service of the electronic assets they deploy.
Additionally, most respondents also recognize that the status quo is no longer good enough to tackle the power management challenges they expect to face in the coming years. Modern electronics management solutions are specifically designed to virtually eliminate power fluctuations and to protect assets when power outages occur, and an encouraging 46 percent of the executives surveyed indicated that they have imminent plans to begin evaluating these solutions to help reduce downtime and service costs.
It seems clear that the time has come for business to pay more attention to the silent stalker lurking inside the walls of their enterprise and invest in intelligent power management solutions that can minimize the damage caused by power fluctuations and proactively mitigate maintenance issues in order to ensure maximum asset lifespan, optimal productivity, consistent customer service and higher margins.
