Mobilization, even based strictly on its definition in the dictionary, is a tricky process. Even on a relatively smaller scale, it involves moving multiple people with their equipment to a distant location. Given the equipment required to repair a turbine blade, and the remoteness of many wind farms, this can be daunting. But it is rendered more manageable with proper planning and execution.
Said planning and execution are paramount to ensuring a job is mobilized on time and on/under an economical budget. This process must begin as soon as negotiations with a potential customer start to be fully realized. Often times, it is simply about where technicians and tools are physically located. Then again, the availability of these assets must be taken into consideration, along with the needs of the customer.
Like all good plans, mobilizing people and equipment must answer a series of questions to optimize safety precautions and quality service. Where is the equipment coming from? Where are the technicians currently located? Has the equipment been cleaned, serviced, and inspected for safety? Where will the technicians have overnight accommodations? Have they also been budgeted for food and other approved expenses? Where and how will they travel to the site? Perhaps most importantly for the customer, how long will it take for them to arrive and start working?
When it comes to the equipment, there are different processes between suspended and elevated platforms. To be more accurate, there is much more of a process to transport elevated platforms due to the size and weight of the vehicle. The driver must have a CDL license in addition to a standard driver’s license. The already stringent safety inspections must be done with much more care and attention to detail. Because the elevated platform is an oversize vehicle, permits must be secured with each state en route to the site. Not to mention, as any seasoned traveler on the highway will recognize, oversize vehicle signage must be affixed and secured to the vehicle.
These are the ways to ensure all the aforementioned questions to mobilization are answered. There are nuances to be considered for each work project, yes. But the principles that ensure strong logistical organization remain the same. Especially when it comes to the cumbersome and sometime fraught process of mobilization. But if the end result is high quality service for the customer, it will be worth the effort.
If you want more information on our operations or would like to have a quote for your blade repair project, get in touch with our teams in North America and Europe!
