Facilities downtime costs businesses big money.
Thousands. Even hundreds of thousands. Every hour an operation sits idle.
That downtime crisis is only getting more expensive for industrial businesses as yearly repair costs rise and expand.
The solution? More and more industrial operators are using custom prefabricated industrial spaces to not only build faster, but intelligently address the infrastructure related factors causing downtime in the first place.
Prefabricated buildings are quickly becoming the smart industrial business’s answer to growing downtime.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Why Industrial Downtime Keeps Getting More Expensive
- What Are Custom Prefabricated Industrial Spaces?
- How Prefabricated Infrastructure Cuts Downtime
- The Real Benefits For Industrial Operations
- What To Look For In A Prefabricated Infrastructure Provider
Let’s dive in.
Why Industrial Downtime Keeps Getting More Expensive
For starters, let’s quantify downtime.
Siemens’ recently released True Cost of Downtime 2024 study found that the 500 largest companies in the world lose $1.4 trillion annually due to unplanned downtime. That’s 11% of annual revenue disappearing every year because equipment stops running.
While 83% of industrial companies say they’ve experienced unplanned downtime over the last three years.
Each outage lasted an average of four hours. Imagine dealing with that four times a year. But here’s the kicker. Hourly downtime costs are reaching $125,000 per hour. Meaning most facilities managers are constantly looking for ways to squeeze more advantage out of their operations.
But most businesses miss one critical piece of the puzzle…
Sometimes downtime isn’t CAUSED by the equipment. Half the time it’s BOTTLENECKED by the building around it.
Old infrastructure. Tight layouts. Limited capacity. Months of construction delays because building quickly on-site simply isn’t an option.
Those are logistical issues that prevent businesses from getting back online once maintenance is complete. And they matter.
When additional capacity is needed, businesses are forced to wait 12-18 months for construction to complete before turning the corner on lost revenue. Projects inevitably run over budget and schedule. Contractors walk through live work zones for months on end. Meanwhile operations are slowed to a crawl.
Traditional construction timelines kill productivity.
That’s where custom prefabricated buildings come in.
What Are Custom Prefabricated Industrial Spaces?
Custom prefabricated industrial spaces are manufactured off-site in factory settings then delivered and assembled onsite. Think of them almost like giant warehouse trailers. Built to meet the specific needs and requirements of any given operation.
Traditional builds happen one-piece-at-a-time on location. Custom prefabricated buildings have every piece designed and constructed offsite. That allows companies to:
- Install the structure with minimal on-site disruption to operations
- Complete projects faster since weather can’t delay factory build times
- Exercise extreme quality control all the way up to delivery
Manufacturers like KABTech focus exclusively on creating custom prefabricated industrial spaces built to endure tough industrial operations. Each building is designed from the ground up to work for the facility’s unique needs. Not the other way around.
It’s pretty wild to think about once you start looking into it. And industrial operators are taking notice.
The global prefabricated buildings market hit $146.47 billion in 2024 and is expected to keep growing. Prefabricated spaces are more than just a trend in industrial — they’re becoming the standard.
How Prefabricated Infrastructure Cuts Downtime
So how does it work?
Traditional builds force businesses to do two difficult things at once. Run the operation while also kicking off a lengthy on-site construction project. Logistics break down. Accidents happen. Projects take longer and cost more money.
Prefabricated facilities allow businesses to skip the headache.
Case in point: reports show prefab and modular construction can decrease build time by up to 50% over traditional methods. Installing a prefab building limits the amount of on-site construction required. Everything from floor to roof is built off-site then shipped ready for installation. Traffic weaving through the operation slows down. Material deliveries stop blocking up valuable floor space. Teams aren’t working around contractors and vice versa.
Condensing the build schedule does more than save money. It directly reduces downtime by decreasing the amount of time operations are impacted.
Months-long facility expansions suddenly take half the time. Pieces of an operation staggered by construction suddenly run freely again. Weeks of on-site building suddenly gets compressed into days.
Less calendar spent waiting for a facility to become usable equals more time keeping money flowing through the business.
Prefabricated buildings give industrial operations a fighting chance against downtime. But the advantages don’t stop at speed.
The Real Benefits For Industrial Operations
Off-site prefab facilities don’t just impact the build schedule. They benefit the bottom line in several ways:
- Build Time: Factory building and on-site preparation occur at the same time. A prefab structure will be ready to install as soon as the site is.
- Cost: Prefab buildings are typically built to a fixed price. The budget is known ahead of time and there are no surprises down the line.
- Disruption: Prefabricated spaces limit the amount of on-site construction required. Less disruption to daily operations.
- Scalability: These buildings can be designed with future expansion in mind. Adding onto a prefab structure is much easier than breaking ground on an entirely new build.
- Quality: Components are built in a factory. Weather can’t delay production and every piece meets uniform quality standards.
Cutting downtime isn’t cheap. But it sure beats the alternative: losing hundreds of thousands of dollars while waiting for traditional construction to finish.
What To Look For In A Prefabricated Infrastructure Provider
Prefabricated buildings have become a go-to solution for tackling industrial downtime. But not all prefab providers are created equal. Making the wrong choice can land a business right back where it started.
When evaluating options, consider the following:
- Industrial experience: Many prefab providers specialise in warehouses and commercial buildings. Those impressive portfolios aren’t always cut and dry when it comes to the heavy electrical and structural demands of an industrial environment.
- Custom design capability: While there are benefits to finding a prefab provider with an expansive catalogue, the right layout won’t always be found there. Ensure the provider can meet specific needs from the ground up.
- Documented delivery timelines: Many prefab providers throw around timelines that sound too good to be true. Ask to see past examples of industrial builds similar to the project before verifying estimates.
- Post-installation support: The building isn’t everything. Prefab providers should be able to offer services to help modify and maintain the facility after installation.
Cutting downtime is an investment. The right prefab infrastructure provider will save more money on avoided downtime than their build will cost.
Let’s Evaluate
Unplanned downtime is only going to cost businesses more as we head into the future. $1.4 trillion USD yearly is nothing to scoff at.
But by investing in prefabricated infrastructure today, industrial businesses are saving themselves countless headaches down the road. Faster build times, improved reliability, and streamlined operations await.
Start building smarter.
