PK Controls

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the importantce of Preventative Maintenance?
• Are your personnel trained and certified?
• What are the objectives of material handling controls?

What is the importance of Preventative Maintenance?

Unscheduled downtime can disrupt production and have significant impact on your bottom line. The primary goal of a good preventative maintenance program should be to reduce the number of equipment failures to a point where equipment and processes are being maintained, as much as possible, along side of scheduled work. Preventative maintenance is most effective when the work is accomplished on a determined cyclical basis. Preventative maintenance areas must be properly sized and defined, with similar activities grouped accordingly, and adequate manpower levels determined.

PK Controls is very experienced in this area and works with its partner companies to develop effective preventative maintenance programs that have real impacts on uptime and allow a client’s personnel to concentrate their time on production, new projects, and improving processes.

Are your personnel trained and certified?

At PK Controls, we believe that training quality people is the key to our success. Above all else, safety is trained from day one. Among other client-specific topics, we train in Hazard Perception, Lockout/Tag Out, Fall Protection, Lockout Placard, and Working Safely with Electricity.

Next, we train in the basics of wiring techniques that combines speed with quality. All associates go through a series of practice trials. When they have successfully shown competence in this area, they progress to on the job training. This is done under close supervision of one of our certified trainers.

For every on site job, the skill level of the associate is matched with the job and customer to assure a complete fit.

What are the objectives of material handling controls?

The major objectives of a material handling control system are:

• Control material handling equipment
• Control product on the equipment
• Provide information about product during movement
• Provide information about equipment status

Control the Equipment

A control system interfaces and manages a variety of hardware, such as motors and sensors. Through actions such as turning on/off motors and monitoring interlocks, the control logic provides for correct operation of the equipment and safety of the personnel using the equipment.

Control the Product

A control system operates the equipment to control the movement of the product, and to position it as needed for subsequent operations. Control actions may include reorienting the product, controlling its speed of movement, and routing it through a network of equipment.

Provide Product information

A control system can provide information about the product to operators and allied computer systems. Information is application-dependent, and may include product identity, location, destination and physical characteristics, such as size and weight. This information can be used to adjust upstream and downstream processes to increase efficiency and can help detect problems before they cause shutdowns.

Provide Equipment Information

A control system can provide two types of equipment information: status monitoring and diagnostics. Requirements for status monitoring are application-dependent; alarms are used to inform operators of system faults. Diagnostic information can be used to identify a problem device before it fails, minimizing downtime.