From Equipment List to Running Machine
A machine install goes well or badly before the electrician arrives. The sequence we work to:
- Step 1 — Nameplate and cut-sheet review: voltage, phase, full-load amps and the manufacturer's overcurrent and disconnect requirements for every machine, before anything is priced
- Step 2 — Capacity check: the new load against the existing service, distribution and panel space, so a shortfall is found on paper and not on start-up day
- Step 3 — Layout and routing: feeder routes, disconnect locations and drops set around the floor plan, traffic paths and where equipment is likely to move next
- Step 4 — Rough-in ahead of delivery: feeders, disconnects and drops in place before the machine is rigged, so the electrical is never the item holding up commissioning
- Step 5 — Final connections and start-up: terminations, phase rotation checked with the equipment vendor, and labels on every disconnect
Voltage Is the First Question
Most DFW industrial buildings have 480V or 208V three-phase service. Equipment does not always match. Machines built for European or Asian markets often arrive specified for 380V or 400V, and a machine bought used may have been rewired for wherever it last ran. A voltage mismatch is cheap to solve when it is caught at the cut-sheet stage and expensive when it is caught with the machine on the floor.
- Nameplate voltage, phase and frequency checked against the building service before the purchase order is final, where we are involved that early
- Transformers specified and installed where a machine needs a voltage the building does not have
- Phase rotation verified at start-up, because a motor running backwards is the most common first-day problem
Expansions and Moves
Production floors change. A line gets added, a cell moves, a second shift brings more equipment. The electrical should make the next change easier, not harder. Where layouts change often, feeders and drops are planned so a machine can be relocated without re-running everything back to the panel. Where the existing service is close to its limit, we tell you before the next machine is ordered, not after. On the Send-Cut-Send expansion the work ran in phases, each following the next stage of their growth, and that is how most plant expansions run.
Control Wiring
Alongside power, we install control wiring and integration for equipment and building systems: control circuits between machines, interlocks, and the wiring that connects equipment to the controls the equipment vendor or integrator supplies. Programming stays with the vendor or your integrator. We make sure what they are programming is wired the way their drawings say.
Working Around Production
Work is planned around output, not just around the calendar:
- Outages limited to the equipment being connected, and scheduled in writing
- Night and weekend work where production cannot stop
- Coordination with riggers, the equipment vendor and your maintenance team on the same schedule
- Permits and inspections handled; requirements differ by city across DFW