Six Essential Steps to Ensure a Smooth Machinery Relocation

Whether you need to move your equipment to a new factory, reorganise your existing lines for better efficiency or you need to send industrial equipment off-site for specialist repairs, you'll need someone with the experience to coordinate specialised lifting equipment, the appropriate labour, correct packaging, and transportation.

There are a number of machinery movement services that you could choose from. However, finding the right one for your specific needs will require some research and understanding on your part.

Below, we’ve put together our top six essential steps to help you choose the right machinery movement contractor to ensure a smooth operation.

1.     Define the size of your machinery relocation project

Sounds obvious, I know, but you’ll find different machinery contractors have different strengths and weaknesses and not all will be suited to your project.

Some will specialise in small moves only (whether that be a maximum size/weight of machine, or a small total number of machines), others are structured to take on major projects only (with large project management team overheads to cover).

A few, like Novatec Engineering, can take on a broad range between the two ends of the scale.

By clearly defining the project requirements, you’ll also help your proposed contractor to ascertain if they can be of value to you – at the end of the day, no one wants to take on a project just to fail!

Start by making a simple list of the equipment you need to move, along with any ancillary items associated with the main machines (separate control panels, hydraulic packs, tool heaters/chillers, etc.).

Alongside each item, you’ll also need to record (as a minimum) the overall length, width, height and weight of each item. If you really want to speed up the process, include additional information, such as details of lifting points, fluids on board the machine (hydraulic, coolant, fuel, etc.), connected services (air, water, electrical power, etc.), and so on.

If you’d like a copy of our pre-move checklist, please click here.

2.     Categorise your equipment list into machine ‘types’

If your project only involves one or two similar machines, you could probably skip this step. More usually, there will be different machines, each with different requirements, in any given relocation project.

Each will need different considerations, for example, a heavy injection moulding machine may require heavy-duty jacks and machine skates, cranage, specialised transport trailers, etc. Whereas, small electronics testing rigs, etc., whilst not requiring the heavy moving equipment, may need careful packaging and delicate handling.

Categorising groups of machines in this way will help your machinery contractor determine the correct mix of resources to provide a complete service.

3.     Consider Safety Over Price

You’ll no doubt want your machinery to arrive at its new destination in one piece (unless it’s designed to be in more than one piece, in which case, we’ll go with that).

This means your machinery movement contractor will need to be experienced, professional and safety conscious. Check their references, planning & control documentation, safety statistics and make sure the correct insurance is in place (despite what many smaller contractors think, Public Liability doesn’t cover your machinery if it’s being worked on under a specific contract). If they can’t provide any of these items, move on to the next on the list, regardless of their price.

In the past we’ve lost work (initially) to cheaper but less experienced contractors, only to be called back by the same customer to recover a toppled machine. Great for us, not so good for you, if it means sending the machine away for repairs, lost production as a result, additional costs and most importantly, the risk of harming personnel or additional property.

4.     Consider the level of packaging you need

Whilst your machinery contractor should be a specialist in all aspects of machinery relocation, they may not have intimate knowledge of your specific machine or process. You are probably best placed to provide the necessary information about particularly vulnerable sections, etc. that may require specialist packaging.

Either way, your contractor should work with you to determine the appropriate level of packaging and ensure this is completed correctly, whether that’s using in-house capabilities or a trusted partner.

5.     Consider the resources you will need to provide internally

Again, you and your team will probably have a better understanding of the operations of each machine, so it would be beneficial to assign the correct personnel from your team to get involved with the decommissioning stage (putting the machine into a safe ‘home’ position, backing up plc / HMI programmes, etc.) and subsequent recommissioning phase.

Once relocated, the machinery will also need to have a fresh PUWER assessment (which would normally be carried out periodically, typically every 6-12 months) and possibly CE / UKCA Marking if modifications, etc. have been made. Novatec Engineering can assist with these items, if needed.

6.     Get multiple quotes & proposals

It’s always a good idea to get multiple quotes for your project, no matter the size of the project. Most experienced machinery movement specialists will want to visit site to carry out a physical survey in order to create a detailed plan and note any areas requiring special attention (although since the arrival of Covid19, some of this has been possible via virtual surveys as an alternative).

The site survey will also give you the opportunity to ask questions, learn more about their solutions and any subcontractors they may use (if any) and identify the key point of contact for progressing towards the correct solution for you.

Final thoughts

Remember, you’re not necessarily looking for the cheapest quote, as this usually means the least experienced and corners may be cut. Multiple proposals from truly professional machinery relocation contractors will give you the best idea of the correct budget for the project and the most appropriate solutions on offer.

Don’t risk your machinery or the safety of your personnel - Trust in the experience and expertise of Novatec Engineering to get the job done properly.

Over the years, our team has handled everything from a single machine movement to complete factor relocations for a variety of customers, and in all industries from food production to waste recycling (and everything in between).

Regardless of the size of the project, our team follows the same strict procedures to ensure your machinery is handled safely and efficiently and is back in operation to suit your requirements.

If you need someone you can trust to look after your machinery needs - in every aspect, from planning and management to decommissioning, movement, re-installation and commissioning - get in touch with our friendly team and we’ll be only too happy to advise on the next steps for your project.

Call 01634 757455 or email the team at office@novatec-engineering.co.uk