Situated just south of Detroit, MI, a major automotive engine manufacturer was experiencing a number of animal-caused outages at the substation feeding their power supply. In 2011, this plant saw a rash of animal contacts. The contacts were primarily squirrels but raccoons were also a part of the problem. Squirrels would bridge insulators and raccoons would get into transformer bushings. Within a 5-month period the plant experienced one outage from raccoon contact and 4 from squirrels. All outages were tracked to various pieces of equipment in the substation.
Consultants pointed to major costs resulting from the breakage of tools and loss of production while machinery was repaired. Another major cost and frustration was people standing around not doing anything while you’re paying all because there’s no power. The cost to this engine manufacturer for these animal-caused outages was estimated in the $100,000.00 - $200,000.00 per incident range.
Supporting that statistic, a Nielsen survey of 101 manufacturing executives in the automotive industry, from parts suppliers to engine makers, to automakers, reflects the cost of stopped production is incredibly high - - and average $22,000 to $50,000 per minute. This translates to $1.3 million to $3 million per hour.
Five years prior, the first approach was to use generic cover-up available on the market. However, that initial approach failed. In 2011 engineering consultants began the rigorous and exhaustive process of investigating and researching solutions available in the marketplace. That was when Cantega’s GreenJacket® solution was found and installed in 2012.
Cantega’s GreenJacket® solution utilizes photogrammetric imaging as the basis to manufacture a precise-fit cover-up product made from a highly dielectric, polyurea material that meets the IEEE 1656 industry guideline for bird and animal cover-up.
The solution was comprised of 102 parts and 600 feet of conductor cover at a value of $41,259.00. Since installation of the GreenJacket® solution, this automotive engine manufacturer has not had one outage from animals on the equipment that was protected.
