When power drops in a plant, the line stops. Costs rise fast. Even short outages throw off schedules and leave teams working late to catch up. Industry data shows downtime can cost over $125,000 an hour, making it one of the most expensive risks plant managers face.

Equipment can wear out faster when it’s forced through sudden shutdowns and restarts. Teams feel the strain too, as they balance safety with the pressure to get back online.

The good news is that these challenges don’t have to become the norm. Many facilities are staying prepared with reliable backup systems like Rehlko industrial generators to keep production steady and protect both people and equipment.

So what does an outage really cost? Let’s break it down.

The True Cost of Downtime

Every Plant Manager knows that when the power goes out, the clock starts ticking. Production stops, schedules slip, and the financial impact adds up fast. But the biggest cost of downtime isn’t always the one you see first.

Direct Costs You Expect

• Production stops: Every hour offline means fewer parts, fewer products, and less output.
• Missed deliveries: Customers waiting on orders don’t get them, leading to delays or penalties.

Hidden Costs That Add Up

• Idle crews: Your team is still on the clock even if the line isn’t moving.
• Overtime pay: When systems finally come back online, long hours and weekend shifts are often required to recover lost time.
• Scrap and rework: If a batch is cut off mid-cycle, it may need to be scrapped, wasting materials and labor.
• Penalties and chargebacks: Late shipments can mean unexpected fees or lost trust with customers.

The Bigger Picture

Industry research shows that unplanned downtime can account for up to 11% of a plant’s yearly revenue. For many facilities, that’s the difference between a strong quarter and a missed target. Dollars are one side of the loss; machine health is the other.

Equipment Damage From Outages

Downtime doesn’t just affect schedules; it can be tough on equipment, too. Machines and control systems are designed to run steadily, not to be stopped suddenly under load.

Wear and Tear on Machines

• Motors and bearings: Sudden shutdowns cause uneven wear, heat stress, and shorten the life of moving parts.
• Furnaces and ovens: Rapid temperature swings can crack linings and weaken structural materials over time.

Risks to Control Systems

• Voltage dips and surges: Even short sags or spikes can trip PLCs, drives, and sensors, forcing resets and troubleshooting.
• Process disruption: Automated systems often need recalibration after an abrupt stop, extending downtime.

Repeated outages mean more maintenance calls, higher repair costs, and shorter equipment lifespans. What looks like a “small outage” today can create bigger breakdowns tomorrow. Gear isn’t the only thing under strain, but people feel it too.

Labor Costs You Can’t Ignore

When the power drops, people’s costs start rising right away. Even a short outage can throw off shifts, stretch budgets, and add stress to a team that’s already working hard.

Idle crews still on payroll.

Operators, techs, and maintenance staff stay on the clock while lines are down. You’re paying for time with no output, and most skilled roles can’t be swapped to other work on the spot. That idle time piles up fast, and it chips away at morale when crews want to be productive but can’t.

Overtime to recover production schedules.

Once power returns, managers add evening or weekend hours to clear orders. Overtime lifts the bill, and fatigue can slow the team.

• Extra evening or weekend shifts to hit ship dates
• Temp labor to help with packing, QA, or rework
• Supervisors and maintenance staff are staying late to stabilize equipment

Safety exposure during rushed restarts (LOTO, OSHA).

Deadlines create pressure, but restarts still need to follow lockout/tagout steps and basic checks. Skipping a step puts people at risk and can trigger fines. A careful, staged restart protects your team, prevents damage, and often avoids a second shutdown later in the day. The effects don’t stop at your floor; they spread to partners and customers.

Ripple Effects Outside the Plant

An outage doesn’t end when the lights come back on. It affects customers, suppliers, and your standing as a reliable partner.

Missed delivery = chargebacks and strained contracts.

Late shipments can trigger penalties or force expensive expedited freight, and they chip away at trust with customers. A customer who misses their own deadline remembers who put them in that spot.

Supply chain impact: reliability drives retention.

If your parts don’t arrive, your customer’s line may slow or stop. Your suppliers can also get stuck holding raw material longer than planned. Small interruptions at your plant can ripple into bigger problems across the network.

Uptime is a competitive advantage.

Buyers favor vendors who hit dates, even under pressure. It’s one reason studies show that removing power disturbances could lift U.S. manufacturing value by 2.3%, reliability keeps orders flowing, and relationships strong. The good news is that these risks don’t have to stay this way. A simple plan can make a big difference.

Steps Plant Managers Can Take

You can’t control the grid, but you can control how ready the plant is and how fast you recover. A simple plan, practiced well, pays for itself the first time you need it.

Preventive maintenance and load bank testing.

Keep backup systems ready with routine inspections, fuel checks, and scheduled load bank tests. Catch small issues, filters, belts, batteries, and coolant before they turn into a failure under load. A basic PM calendar and clear ownership (who checks what, and when) make this easy to sustain.

Train teams for safe, fast restarts.

Write short, step-by-step SOPs for shutdown and restart, then walk the floor and practice them. Cross-train so more than one person can start lines, clear faults, and verify quality. The goal: safe, steady restarts without guesswork or skipped steps.

Stock critical spares to cut recovery time.

Waiting on parts turns a one-hour hiccup into a multi-day outage. Keep a small kit of failure-prone items on hand so maintenance can move fast:

• Control boards, relays, fuses
• Belts, filters, hoses, sensors
• PLC batteries and drive interface cables
• Fluids and test gear (coolant, oil, multimeters)

Backup power for resilient operations.

A right-sized generator keeps production, controls, lighting, and safety systems online when the grid fails. Plants that depend on uptime often standardize on durable options to protect lines and sensitive automation during short sags and longer outages.

Lean on local expertise (CA, NV, HI).

Permits, emissions rules, and noise limits vary by location. A local partner who knows California, Nevada, and Hawaii requirements can help you size correctly, place equipment, and stay compliant, then support you with parts and 24/7 service when it counts. Put these basics in place, and outages become short, controlled pauses instead of long, costly events.

Preparedness Protects Profitability

Power outages hit where it hurts: revenue, equipment life, and people time. The fastest way to lower that risk is to prepare before the lights flicker. A clear plan keeps crews safe, protects machines, and helps you ship on time even when the grid stumbles. That’s how plants turn downtime from a costly surprise into a short, controlled pause.

Quick next steps for your team

• Review critical loads and confirm what must stay on during an outage.
• Tune up your backup plan: preventive maintenance, fuel checks, and load bank testing.
• Refresh restart SOPs and run a short drill so crews can execute without rushing.
• Keep a small kit of critical spares on-site to avoid long waits for parts.
• Verify local rules (permits, emissions, noise) and adjust your setup as needed.
• Consider resilient backup power with industrial generators to keep lines, controls, and safety systems stable.

Prepared plants recover faster, protect budgets, and keep customers. A little preparation today can save a lot of overtime, scrap, and stress tomorrow.