Investing in leak inspection equipment demonstrates your commitment to quality. But your commitment shouldn’t end with your inspection equipment purchase. Proper maintenance protects your investment — as well as your inventory, your brand, your bottom line, and your customers. Because leak detection equipment is so critical to quality assurance, if your inspection equipment is down, your line is down, too. These production delays mean a loss of both time and money.
So what can you do to protect your inspection equipment? A key element of preventive maintenance, a service audit provides the protection you need.
What Is a Service Audit?
A service audit is a technical review of the overall health of your leak tester. During an audit, an experienced service technician assesses the equipment’s performance, looks for wear, and can optimize the inspection equipment’s settings for your production runs.
Why Are Service Audits Important?
Preventive maintenance helps ensure the reliability of your inspection equipment. Optimizing the settings to your production runs can help reduce false rejects, increasing your efficiency and reducing waste.
Leak testers have sensitive measuring systems that must function flawlessly to ensure accuracy. A service audit can either confirm that your equipment is in top condition, or bring to light any components or settings that need attention to bring your equipment into proper working condition.
How Can I Prepare for a Service Audit?
Preparing for a service audit is the same as preparing for a new production run.
- Ensure that all options for your equipment are available: test recipes, guardrails, conveyors, and any other accessories.
- Confirm that your equipment has power and air and gather a selection of test bottles.
- Be prepared to describe any outliers or unexpected test results you’ve seen.
Because one of the key goals of a service audit is to avoid unplanned downtime, scheduling a service audit during planned downtime, such as during a major change in production type or facility layout, is most efficient.
Who Performs a Service Audit?
ALPS Inspection service technicians perform service audits. Our service team members have an average of 15 years of experience and are familiar with a variety of machines, test types, containers, and production environments. The primary focus of the ALPS service team is keeping customers online, and the team collaborates when faced with a challenge: you’ll benefit from over 100 years of combined experience!
What Is Included in an Audit?
During a service audit, an ALPS technician will perform a complete walkthrough of your machine, with the goal of ensuring it is functioning to its fullest capacity. All sensors, conveying elements, safety guardrails, and handling mechanisms will be checked. The technician will also run a performance evaluation to verify maximum run rates and optimize the settings of your leak detection equipment to increase test sensitivity and accuracy.
Proactively completing regular service audits can be a key part of ensuring complete quality on your production lines. Service audits can also maximize your productivity by minimizing false rejects and unplanned downtime. Ensure you’re set up for success by scheduling a service audit with ALPS Inspection today.
