As a pioneer and influencer in any industry, there is no room for error. But what happens when a vendor comes to that facility and incorrectly assembles equipment that is crucial for a successful production site?

Our customer, a leader in the poultry industry, received improper equipment setup on their production site, which resulted in a series of safety and quality issues. Sunbelt Rentals had the opportunity to urgently provide equipment and solutions to resolve a variety of issues caused by faulty installation and flawed equipment.

Proper climate control is essential for healthy poultry production. The former supplier incorrectly installed equipment in the facility, creating additional moisture on hot days. There are a variety of climate control needs across the five-plant job site and areas such as the cooking site, breading site, and spice dock were not experiencing dry conditions. The goal inside the production area is much like that of any food plant; air as dry as possible, with temperatures not exceeding 55 degrees Fahrenheit. The refrigeration utilized by the previous supplier was solely air conditioning, which limited the ability to provide required temperatures to the facility.

In addition, safety issues occurred in the spice dock. After cleaning the floor, the area remained wet and cooling coils would form ice. These slick conditions could cause fork lifts to slip, resulting in a hazard to employees.

Poor installation was another challenge faced by the customer. The previous supplier did not safely supply power to their equipment, and the limited power that was available could not exceed 700 amps. Additionally, some of the units were not grounded properly.

Unfortunately, this client was unable to know if their old system was working correctly. When issues occurred, the previous supplier was not only less than responsive, but they would rarely service the equipment as needed. Our Sunbelt Rentals team assessed this customers'needs and provided them with a safe, more robust equipment solution for an effective and productive facility.

The first step was to correctly install new equipment for maximum moisture removal. By using air cooled chillers, the facility obtained cooler temperatures which reduced the maximum moisture. The cooler delivered air and allowed the existing refrigeration equipment to operate as designed, without additional heat, which prevented the customer from having to replace equipment.

Previously, our client did not have proper building penetrations. Instead, holes were cut into their structure which prevented them from washing the openings, in fear of damaging the duct and creating additional problems. We resolved this issue by providing stainless steel building penetrations and sealed all openings with certified food safe caulking, which allowed our customer the ability to properly sanitize the areas.

Safety is at the forefront of all that we do at Sunbelt Rentals. We made sure to provide safe solutions that best served our client’s needs. We installed point of service breaker panels for safer power control, and made sure equipment was properly grounded. To reduce the use of electricity, our team provided certified gas technicians to safely install the gas feed to the desiccants.

In terms of ongoing maintenance of our customer’s equipment, our team installed a monitoring system. When a piece of equipment is not operating per the proper specifications, the system will alarm Sunbelt Rentals with a notification stating maintenance is required. This gives us the ability to dispatch service personnel before the customer is even aware of a potential problem. We also created and implemented a maintenance schedule that provides detailed documentation of service records to our customer.

The team at Sunbelt Rentals was eager to help with this poultry facility project. After this transition was completed, our customer was equipped with the knowledge and understanding of climate control needs, tools, and solutions to prepare for a successful future.