Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and…power supplies?  Oh yeah…power supplies are everywhere and in everything.  Ubiquitous and almost as necessary as oxygen, the underappreciated yeoman power supply runs the motors of your life, from the microscopic to the 40,000 volt monster variety.

And, at any given time, a considerable bunch of them are not working.  One minute everything is literally humming along smoothly and then suddenly, it’s not.  Not moving, not humming, not doing anything except maybe emitting smoke and that unmistakable burned electrical smell.  We call that the “smoke genie” and believe me, that genie is NOT there for you to make three wishes.

Wow.  Loose connections…now that’s a “loose” term if ever there was one! 

Connection problems are indeed responsible for many non-functioning electronics of all sorts. 

Note the key words are connection problems because the problem may very well NOT be looseness at all.  So step away from the torque wrench or worse-yet the screwdriver. 

What seems like a “loose” connection could be just that, but electronic problems are more often the result of bad connections caused by:

• Oxidation of contacts
• Corrosion of contacts
• Dirty contact surfaces
• Cross threading
• Wrong bolt or screw

 “Shocking” Info Bites: 

• Almost 500 people die each year from electrical accidents, mostly in the workplace, putting it among the top 10 causes of accidental death in the U.S.
• Approximately 80% of all injuries and fatalities caused by electrical accidents are not caused by the electric shock itself, but by the intensive heat, light and pressure blast caused by electrical faults. 
• The blast made by vaporizing metallic components can break bones and damage internal organs.

We won an Academy Award Oscar for customer service!!  Well, it feels like we did.

Oh, we like to consider ourselves smart, clever, problems-solvers…and we are.  But most of all ACS Industrial is a collaboration of customer-centered, skilled people who listen.  Why?  Because it matters.  A lot.

When we get letters like the one below we share them with our entire staff to make sure they know how important true customer service is and to show our appreciation…

Science fiction once again comes to life.  No, not flesh eating zombies but a tiny, incredibly dexterous robotic spy plane developed by  the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and built by AeroVironment .  You don’t think that’s totally cool?  Well, you will when you see it.  What’s really cool about it is that it looks and moves just like a real hummingbird!  Talk about covert surveillance!

The hummingbird drone is able to fly forward, backward, and sideways, as well as rotate clockwise and counterclockwise using only it’s two wings for propulsion and control.  It is also about the same size as an actual hummingbird with a 6.5 inch wingspan and weight of 19 grams. 

Yesterday afternoon, after fidgeting for an hour in a cracked, plastic chair at the Motor Vehicle Administration, my middle son received his learner’s permit and his Rookie Driver handbook….just thought ya’ll should know about this disturbing fact.  If you are a parent of teenage sons, as I am of three of these buffalo, then you know why it is disturbing.

This is the car he is planning to drive…a 2011 Camaro.  Reality, however, is that a 2003 Hyundai Elantra, previously dented up by his older brother, is what awaits him in the driveway.  But he can dream…and plan for the future.

 Does it seem like your maintenance staff is constantly putting out “fires?” Or that your production equipment is always running to failure requiring industrial electronics repair and causing unplanned work stoppages? 

Lean manufacturing may be the answer.  Lean manufacturing concepts aren’t new but they are gaining momentum…and for good reason. 

By implementing some lean manufacturing strategies, you can track equipment breakdowns, schedule preventive maintenance, and anticipate needs for maintenance parts.   Benefits include:

• Waste elimination
• Defect reduction
• Productivity maximization
• Engaging  your work force as a team

Not surprisingly, reliability ranked the most important criteria in purchasing industrial electronics according to a recent survey by Plant Engineering & Maintenance. 

Reliability was followed, in descending order, by quality, safety, maintenance, service, price, throughput, technology, noise, speed, and “green”.

Maintenance ranked 4th out of 11 so we know it’s pretty high on your list.  Nobody wants equipment that is difficult or excessively expensive to maintain.  Downtime is lost time and lost time is lost money.  

Save money in the long run by purchasing quality industrial electronic equipment with a good warranty.  And when that warranty runs out, or the OEM does not provide responsive service, send your repairs to a reliable expert. 

We’ve been listening to our customers and have made some changes to our website.  Now  you will find the ACS Industrial Services website even easier to navigate. 

 ”Bread-crumb trails” have been created to let you easily keep track of the pages you’ve been to and get back to any you want to revisit.  Check out our upgraded website at http://www.acsindustrial.com. 

We provide services for almost all types of industrial electronics including power supply repair, servo motor repair, and encoder repair.

Visit the website and find out more about ACS Industrial Services and all we have to offer your company to save you time and money.  We are industry’s trusted repair resource!

Repair or replace your damaged industrial electronics?  

Occasionally it’s a clear cut decision like the customer with a burn hole the size of North Dakota in his circuit board.  Definitely dumpster material.  More often, there are a few things to consider when making industrial electronic repair decisions.  Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

How much did it cost new?