New direction for my company

[Wicksyp]

Hi everyone
I have been trading now for just 4 years so i am a newbee in business terms and i have been a spark for 12 years so i am still learning (do we ever stop learning)
I just want to put this out there and see what advice the more experienced business owners can give me.
I have had a long hard think about my business and i have taken my foot off the pedal and become complacent over the last two years as iv been ticking along.
Now i have got the bit between my teeth again and i want to go into more of the commercial/industrial testing market as i do a lot of testing but more domestic and to be honest there is more money in the other 2 scopes.
I have thought about targeting the small business owners in the area to offer hard wire testing etc.
Now what advice can you guys give me as flyers in these fields are a bit pointless in my view as i was thinking of a introduction letter on headed paper to the maintenance dept etc, the cost of stamps etc is big so before i decide i just wanted a bit of feedback please.

Thanks for reading and sorry if its old ground.

Cheers

Wicksy

 

[stef]

On an industrial scale on your own it is a demanding task and in my experience
factories usually don't go through a testing programme as it causes too much disruption for production. On commercial scale I don't know. On industrial premises
inspection and testin is usually done between xmas and new year when ptoduction is down. I personally don't think that there is a lot of money in just testing and inspecting. I tend to do a PIR during a major break down, the only time I am allowed to do it.

 

[Top Cat]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^agree^^^^^^^^^^^^^afraid what you want and what you get are two different things!

 

[sedgy34]

Try the commercial refurbishing route you may get the big jobs and Annual testing after

 

[malcolmsanford]

Though in domestic I've yet to be convinced on the merits of voltage optimization, in commercial/industry I think there is perhaps still a good opportunity to get into this field.

It would need a really professional approach and perhaps serious initial outlay, which could be off set by initial hiring, of monitoring/specialized equipment but I feel that there could be really good returns for this kind of work.

And of course once you do get a contract for this, you have a chance on other areas, testing, contract work, even emergency and alarm testing and thermal imagining.

In today's market I feel that just general sparking is a thing of a past. If you can offer a complete package of solutions that the modern HSE/Insurance companies now demand on businesses, with a professional approach and solid expertise there are still ways to make as decent living

 

[Wicksyp]

Cheers for the suggestions and comments guys its all appreciated.
I have refurbed a few shops and done quite a few Industrial and commercial PIR's are they were once known lol.
It is bloody hard out there and im sure everyone is in the same boat and your doing well if your not.
As far as the voltage optimization goes i'm really not convinced myself but thats just me.
Once again thanks for your input
Wicksy

 

[Top Cat]

Good luck!

 

[Spazz]

Just a thought about this - is it not possible to run a 2nd cable (3 phase) to the equipment so testing can happen without disruption.

This way the equipment will be down for at most 2 minuets whist you unplug and replug the equipment??

I have never done industrial or been into an industrial building so not one that I can comment on - so just throwing this one out!

Or am I completely off the mark and do these equipment require long shutting down times - but what do they do when the power goes off in a power cut?

 

[malcolmsanford]

Just a thought about this - is it not possible to run a 2nd cable (3 phase) to the equipment so testing can happen without disruption.

This way the equipment will be down for at most 2 minuets whist you unplug and replug the equipment??

I have never done industrial or been into an industrial building so not one that I can comment on - so just throwing this one out!

Or am I completely off the mark and do these equipment require long shutting down times - but what do they do when the power goes off in a power cut?

Wrong thread possibly???

 

[Spazz]

This is connected to what the OP said and what stef said.

This is what made me think is this possible?

There is a demand for I&T in industrial but only if no disruption is caused to the process - so the question is how to do this? - is my suggestion an option?

 

[malcolmsanford]

See what you mean Nicholas, sorry for doubting.

To be honest that would be quite an expensive way to do anything, having double cable runs to each critical piece of equipment, and as you say you will still have that few minutes of shutdown for changing over supplies. In some processes a simple few seconds of shut down could mean hours of resetting which equates to pounds to set up production again.

If you look at the regulations, which is sometimes not really relevant to large industrial complexes who have their own standards, but reg 622.2 does say that an installation under effective maintenance scheme then this can replace inspection and testing. As Stef says, you would do any testing you can on mostly a scheduled shutdown, and rely on your PPM programme for the rest.

 

[Spazz]

I was thinking something the tester can make up and bring.

Does not have to be a fixed install.

It can just be clipped along the wall purely whilst testing that circuit then once testing is done unplug and move onto next.

 

[malcolmsanford]

It is still down time that is the problem. Yes there are events and one is a plant tripping for whatever reason, but that is for a better term "An act of god" and can not be forecast. And often there are insurances for this and you have to accept this as part and parcel of things

But if you have a production plant that any down time is going to cost you, your not going to switch it off, so a sparks can do a few tests on the cables. It will either go off on a schedule shutdown, in which case you won't need the secondary supply, or it stays on and you monitor the installation, normally by thermal imagery, if the equipment is that critical you can have monitoring devices built in the PLC programmes that will inform you of any changes in say resistance values etc etc.

 

[Spazz]

thanks macolmsanford

Like I said I never even seen an industrial property (inside anyway - apart from on TV)
So as far as what devices could be used is new to me - to be honest that seems fine and seems like there is no need for I&T when these are installed apart from every few years when a scheduled shut down occurs

 

[Wicksyp]

I have done a few Industrial PIR's and always took the Zs readings of the outlet while the guys were on a break and then done the office rings after hours.
But that only works in very small companies as i would not entertain the big boys as it is near on impossible as i am a one man band and as previously mentioned only possible during a planned shutdown.