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Oftentimes the overall lifetime equipment cost isn’t considered at the time of purchase. It’s common to see that within an industrial facility, equipment is accepted with only “inferior” components rather than “optimal” at the time of purchase and installation. Unfortunately, “inferior” components result in more service calls and downtime. With today’s supply chain challenges this issue is magnified, not only through inflation, but through limited supply of components and parts.

Let’s take the sectional door for example (it’s the most common dock door in the Midwest). Facilities oftentimes install 2” rollers and track because they are less expensive upfront than 3” rollers and track. However, the 3” roller can never “pop out of the track” unlike a 2” roller. So even though the initial cost for the 3” roller/track may be more, it ultimately costs less with reduced downtime, safety risk, service calls, parts failure, and operating/ownership costs.

When it comes to docks, we’re seeing a shift towards converting mechanical dock levelers to hydraulic operated dock levelers for a handful of reasons:

1. Right now some manufacturers are out close to a full calendar year for mechanical leveler replacement. While lead times for the hydraulic components needed to make the conversions are only days.
2. Hydraulic operated dock levelers contain fewer components and parts with an extremely low failure rate compared to springs, brakes, pawls, and chains found on a mechanical leveler.
3. Increased safety for dock operators.

There are certainly many more examples to share like the two above. Bottom line? Make sure your equipment contains optimal components and is suited to your facilities and employee’s needs. Then supply change challenges will no longer be a consideration.

​Click here to learn more about hydraulic operated dock levelers.

Traditional wisdom may need to be put aside for now and for the near future. Utilizing lean or just-in-time best practices may flop when it comes to managing inventory on parts to keep your facility running. Ideally, you would rely on your supplier partner to stock and maintain adequate inventory to keep your docks & doors operational in the event parts fail. Ask yourself, have you had that conversation with them? Are they able to stock enough parts or source them quickly enough to keep your downtime to a minimum and prevent disruptions in your facility?

Suggestions:

• Stock a few key parts - especially if they are known to be “high-failure.” Understanding what to stock and proper quantities is critical to prevent ownership of obsolete items.
• Partner with an experienced dock & door service company – lean on their expertise to help you with these choices. Often times, parts can be returned as your supplier partner may have other clients who could utilize your “no longer needed” parts.

Combining this strategy with our other four suggested strategies may be part of the solution you and your facility need to thrive.

​In today’s ever-growing corporate world, smaller independent dock and door distributors are appointed by larger companies. While there can be advantages to this for the client, there is one disadvantage, especially in today’s supply-chain challenged world. When manufacturer’s own the local distributor, the client’s choice becomes severely limited. Just because the manufacturer offers different models, this doesn’t truly provide the client with multiple choices as the intended applications for those door models are different. See part two of this series for the importance of correct equipment application.

Even if the “lead times” for new equipment are acceptable, what if there is a part failure and the part isn’t available? With high-speed doors and fire doors, this can be a larger issue as there is likely not an aftermarket option due to proprietary parts or regulations not allowing anything but OEM parts to be used.

Partnering with a service and equipment supplier that can offer both the variety of multiple manufacturer choices and the ability to service multiple manufacturer brands will allow your facility to thrive in through supply chain challenges.

What challenges are you facing with your facility? Schedule a call to see if we can help.

While the worker and raw good shortages have negatively affected the “lead times” on new equipment like industrial doors and loading dock equipment, supply challenges have also affected the "lead time" on the parts and pieces that make up the equipment. Constant changes have affected which parts are readily available and which ones are not. Recently there was a shortage of 1” and 1.25” diameter solid door shafts, while 6 months-ago door springs were hard to find. We have seen issues with some hydraulic and electrical components but not others.

Whether it is the smallest part or the largest component on a piece of equipment, they’re all needed to make it work. Part failure can create a snowball effect resulting in additional parts being damaged ultimately leading to the entire piece of equipment unfixable. The two key components to keeping your equipment working properly are:

1. Ensure the equipment was properly applied, it is being used and maintained correctly. (If you are not intimately familiar with specifics and your usage, ask your service/equipment partner to help you with this.)
2. Establish proper training for your employees who can perform regular checks and it will provide due diligence for safety training. This not only showcases the concern for the health of your employees, but the health of your equipment as well. In addition, shutting down a poorly working piece of equipment may prevent catastrophic failure, and empowers your employee to recognize when and why this is important.

Now is the time to double down on proactive maintenance, as this can prevent issues before they happen. Schedule a service visit today. 

A foundational understanding of when to replace equipment is built by having a clear accounting of:

1. Current equipment conditions
2. Equipment quality vs. the application and cycle usage
3. Performance in every environment to determine the life expectancy
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Ideally, a maintenance program is in place that includes a detailed inspection with proper asset configuration. This includes date of manufacture and the needed details to build this foundation of information. “Lead time increases” vary greatly in the dock and door industry, so knowing what to expect is important. For example, many (not all) dock leveler manufacturers are facing “lead times” nearing 1-year, consequently ordering equipment will need to be done much sooner than in the past. In addition, the employee, raw goods, manufacturing shortages, and shipping delays are likely and should be expected. Factoring in the uncertainties listed above for equipment purchases/updates is a great practice.

Typically, you don’t have failure before your new equipment arrives, and if it arrives early that’s OK. If you’re still skeptical about ordering early, ask yourself these questions:

1. What is the cost to your organization caused by down equipment?
2. How does down equipment affect your relationship with your client’s or partners?
   
   

Compare the amounts from the questions above with the cost of buying an asset a few months earlier and consider the total in costs when you don’t take “lead times” into account.

No one likes surprises, why create one more?

P.S. See more tips like this on our LinkedIn page.