Do You Have Single Points of Failure?

Identifying and Mitigating Single Points of Failure in Your Manufacturing Shop

Recent web outages have highlighted the dangers of single points of failure in critical systems, where a simple coding error caused widespread disruptions across global services. In no-fail industries like manufacturing, this raises a crucial question: Do you have single points of failure in your manufacturing shop that could halt production? Identifying these risks and implementing production contingencies is essential for maintaining operations and avoiding catastrophic downtime.

Understanding Minor vs. Catastrophic Failures in Manufacturing

Failure can come in many forms within a manufacturing shop. Production might stop due to running out of coolant, lost tools or late arrival of raw materials. These are minor failures that typically affect one job or machine and can be remedied quickly. For instance, you can try alternate tooling, move jobs to another machine or even produce parts from larger diameter material for expedited production. They are not catastrophic single points of failure because production contingencies are often already in place, or solutions can be found swiftly.

However, an event that takes days, weeks or longer to recover from is considered catastrophic. Solutions may not be readily apparent, so when these occur, disaster planning needs to already be in place—plans that have been communicated to all parties involved to get mission-critical processes moving again.

Power Outages: A Key Single Point of Failure in Manufacturing Operations

Power outages can completely stop production in a manufacturing shop. Do you have alternate sources of power in case of emergency? Companies use battery backups on electronics all the time—have you ever thought about using them on a machine? A small power outage lasting just a few minutes can interrupt production across the entire shop. The air compressor needs to be restarted, all machines and bar loaders must be reset, and if machines were in the cut, they must be carefully backed out and restarted. There might even be scrap associated with the outage, especially in operations like threading that can't easily be restarted.

Who is responsible for restarting the shop during a power outage? Is there a procedure in place? What happens if this outage continues for days or weeks? I know of a member shop whose area was devastated by a tornado—they were first told power would be out for a month. Fortunately, this shop already had disaster planning in place to rent a large generator from a local electrician. Luckily, power was restored within a week, but what would have happened without that plan? For more insights on managing such risks, check out this article on When a Plan Collapses from Production Machining, which discusses adapting to unexpected disruptions in manufacturing.

Equipment Breakdowns and Single Points of Failure in Precision Machining

Our equipment can also represent a single point of failure in manufacturing. Think about having only one top-of-the-line Swiss machine running critical parts—what happens when that machine goes down? Parts cannot be shipped to the customer because of this vulnerability. Having at least two of every machine is the best solution; however, that is not always economically feasible. At a minimum, have an alternate process to produce parts until the machine can be repaired. It's better to make production doing three operations than to fail your customers.

It's important to have production contingencies on all aspects of producing parts, down to having alternate outside vendors. What if a plater has a massive fire? Are there other vendors pre-approved and ready to fill the void? Explore similar strategies in this piece on ISO Changes: Managing Risk from Modern Machine Shop, which covers risk management procedures for manufacturing compliance.

When the Entire Shop Becomes a Single Point of Failure

A manufacturing shop could be a single point of failure in and of itself. Are there backup plans to serve customers if a catastrophic event destroys the building and equipment? For instance, a tornado, hurricane or earthquake could prevent operations for months. How will customers be served during this time? Do you have backup suppliers that can fill the void until production is up and running? For practical advice on supply chain contingencies, see Preparing for Potential Supply Chain Disruptions on Products Finishing.

The Importance of Disaster Planning and Risk Management in Manufacturing

Planning for disaster is crucial in any manufacturing shop. Hopefully, we never have to use these plans, but if there are no strategies for single points of failure, high-pressure scenarios can result in fatal failure. Build plans around the worst-case scenarios and know what to do when an event happens. Building out robust disaster plans gets to the root of what our FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) process should look like. Go out and build real FMEAs that have actionable solutions. To dive deeper into risk assessment techniques, review Do a Technology Risk Assessment to Protect Your Shop from MoldMaking Technology.