Moving large equipment pieces such as industrial equipment is very challenging, especially when you move within a facility, across borders or to a new city. These pieces of equipment need to be handled by professional machinery movers. Not only that, it’s quite normal for movers to make mistakes, at times. Here you have a list with common machinery moving mistakes and how you may want to avoid those going forward.
A lack of planning
That’s the thing, you have to plan everything beforehand. Just trying to shoot from the hip and hoping from the best is not exactly the right approach, and that’s going to make things easier in the end. Make a site survey, create a moving plan and study the equipment handling instructions. You should also have contingency plans if there are complications or delays, because that will help a lot more than expected.
Not hiring a team of machinery moving experts
Trying to DIY this task is a huge undertaking. It’s very costly do it on your own and not only that, you lack the right equipment. Working with machinery movers is the better option, because you can prevent severe damage to the equipment. On top of that, the chances of dealing with injuries is very high if you attempt to do this on your own without any specific solutions by your side. And that’s why you have to be extremely careful with this kind of stuff.
A lack of assessment for shipping equipment condition
You might think that the equipment used to ship these items is very solid and reliable. But the truth is, wear and tear can make the best of us, and that’s what you want to avoid. Assess the equipment and focus on making sure it all works exactly the way that it should. It’s going to make the process better if you document the pre-move functionality and perform all these minor tasks. It’s crucial to handle them beforehand, and it will surely make things a whole lot better in the end.
No documentation or labels
That’s going to make machinery moving a nightmare, for many reasons. You won’t know how to set up the items back, and if any issue happens, you don’t have a service manual to assist with the process. Having labels on all the items will make them easier to find. You also need to have photos and videos that capture all the wiring configuration. Having that stuff always helps immensely, and it can prevent severe issues down the line. That’s why it always helps to have labels and the right documentation readily available, as it does make a huge difference all the time.
Using the wrong techniques for disassembly
A very common problem is that sometimes, movers or even you won’t use the OEM guidelines for the disassembly process. It might seem like something that is not a huge deal. But the problem with that is it will cause a lot of damage if you’re not careful with it. And that’s the thing, you always want to disassemble things the way it was intended.
For example, you will need to de-energize and lock out the systems, use the right tools to assemble and disassemble, etc. It might not seem like a whole lot, but realistically, it’s only going to make things easier if you manage that appropriately. And if you do it right, the potential can be second to none.
You’re not planning for downtime
Downtime will appear when you do any machinery moving. And the problem here is that it could end up losing you money. You can plan working on stuff that doesn’t need the equipment currently being moved. You can also try to have replacements/alternatives at least until the items get shipped and re-assembled. Planning for everything will help more than you might expect. And even if it might take a while, you have to address everything appropriately and not worry about any issues that could arise.
Ignoring any space and load requirements
That’s the thing, a lot of the time, companies don’t perform a proper assessment of the space needed for the equipment at the new spot. Same thing happens when it comes to floor load. You need to have enough space, and if you don’t, that becomes a major issue.
You always want to focus on ensuring that everything is managed appropriately, and if it doesn’t, that will become an issue. Doing that is certainly important, and you have to address it the best way that you can. Check the floor load and space requirements beforehand, as it will protect you from costly mistakes.
Not preparing the infrastructure and utilities in advance
If you don’t prepare things in advance, that can become a problem. You might need equipment that’s not there on time, so that alone is going to cause plenty of concerns and issues. The best approach when it comes to this type of stuff is to plan and coordinate things beforehand. If you do that, it will make things easier, and it will alleviate any concerns better than expected. At the end of the day, adequate planning is always going to improve things. Because if that’s not possible, you will have a lot of challenges in front of you, and that’s definitely problematic. A good plan can help remove concerns.
A lack of proper packaging
When you rush the machinery movers or there’s inadequate packaging, that will become an issue. The best approach when it comes to this stuff is to ensure that you pack it all appropriately and without an issue. It’s always a challenge, and if you’re not careful, that’s only going to make things worse. The most important thing is to assess the moving guidelines for the machinery, and then see what packaging is needed. Following those pieces of info is critical, and it will help ensure that things will work the way they should.
You skip testing and recalibration
That’s a major thing to consider once the machinery movers do their job. You need to reconnect everything and ensure that it works the way it should. That means you have to go through quite a bit of testing. Not only is that extremely important, but you need to see if any further calibration is required, among many others. If you do that adequately, results can be nothing short of impressive.
And of course, once the machinery moving is complete, you need to update the safety documentation and compliance. All that info helps quite a lot, and it will help provide a more consistent result. What really matters is to know what things were changed, if you need to certify machines again, and so on.
Conclusion
It’s always very important to make sure that you hire the best machinery movers when you have to relocate industrial equipment. Hiring the right people makes a huge difference, and it’s certainly going to prevent many concerns. Of course, you need to have the right systems in place and make sure that everything works smoothly. But in doing so, results can be very good, and you can ensure the machines will function accordingly. Professional machinery moving services can reduce a lot of headache, and the results can be exceptional, so it’s important to find the right movers to fit your requirements.
