Rethinking electrical reliability in food & beverage manufacturing

Food and beverage manufacturers are under more pressure than ever to operate safely, reliably, and efficiently, often with aging infrastructure and fewer experienced resources. Downtime is costly, safety expectations are rising, and compliance requirements are becoming more demanding. Yet electrical distribution systems, which quietly support every process in the plant, are often still maintained using methods that haven’t fundamentally changed in decades.

What’s becoming clear across the industry is that electrical systems can no longer be treated as passive assets. They are active contributors to uptime, safety, and operational risk. As standards like NFPA 70B evolve and production demands increase, food and beverage leaders are rethinking how electrical maintenance fits into their broader operational strategy.

Common challenges

Across food and beverage facilities, whether large multi-site producers or single-plant operations, the same challenges come up again and again.

1. Limited visibility into electrical health

Most electrical failures don’t happen without warning. Connections heat up, environmental conditions change, and components slowly degrade over time. The problem is that traditional maintenance approaches rely on periodic inspections that provide only snapshots. Between those inspections, conditions can change significantly without anyone knowing.

Without continuous visibility, teams are forced to react to symptoms rather than address causes. This reactive posture increases the likelihood of unplanned outages, safety events, and rushed decision-making.

2. Maintenance teams are already overextended

Food and beverage plants are feeling the impact of skilled labor shortages. Experienced electricians are harder to find, and existing teams are being asked to cover more assets with less time. At the same time, documentation and compliance expectations are increasing.

Every manual inspection, follow-up measurement, and subjective judgment adds to the burden. When maintenance programs depend heavily on people remembering what to check and when to check it, consistency becomes difficult to sustain.

3. Compliance expectations are rising

NFPA 70B has made it clear that condition-based maintenance is no longer optional; it’s the preferred approach. This shift requires more than good intentions. It requires objective evidence that equipment has been evaluated, that risks are understood, and that maintenance decisions are based on actual condition rather than assumptions.

For many organizations, this creates anxiety. The standard isn’t just asking what you did, but why you did it, and whether you can prove it.

4. Safety, reliability, and operations are still siloed

In many plants, safety programs, reliability initiatives, and operational goals are managed separately. Each group may be doing good work, but when information isn’t shared, opportunities are missed. Hazardous conditions may be identified late, reliability risks may go unaddressed, and maintenance work may be prioritized based on urgency rather than impact.

The industry is recognizing that these disciplines are deeply connected. Identifying hazardous conditions early isn’t just a safety issue, it’s a reliability and uptime issue as well.

5. Electrical systems are often left out of digital strategy

Most food and beverage organizations have invested heavily in digital tools for production, quality, and supply chain visibility. Electrical distribution systems, however, are frequently left out of this transformation.

When electrical assets remain “dark,” they can’t contribute to better planning, risk reduction, or long-term lifecycle decisions. This disconnect limits the effectiveness of broader digital initiatives.

How leading organizations are responding

Forward-looking food and beverage manufacturers are addressing these challenges by changing how they think about electrical maintenance, not by adding more work, but by reducing uncertainty.

Turning visibility into a baseline, not an exception

Rather than relying solely on periodic inspections, organizations are adopting approaches that provide continuous awareness of electrical conditions. This allows hazardous conditions to be identified early, long before they escalate into failures or safety incidents.

The goal isn’t more data for its own sake; it’s fewer surprises and better decisions.

Reducing the burden on maintenance teams

Digital condition awareness shifts the burden from people to systems. When equipment condition is monitored continuously, maintenance teams spend less time chasing potential issues and more time addressing confirmed risks.

This approach supports consistency even when staffing is limited and helps ensure that critical issues don’t depend solely on individual experience.

Making compliance evidence a byproduct of operations

Instead of treating compliance documentation as a separate task, leading organizations are embedding it into everyday operations. Continuous condition records create a natural audit trail that supports NFPA 70B expectations without adding layers of paperwork.

Maintenance decisions become easier to justify because they’re grounded in observable behavior rather than assumptions.

Aligning safety, reliability, and uptime

When hazardous conditions are identified early, safety and reliability objectives naturally align. Work can be planned more deliberately, risks can be prioritized more accurately, and unplanned downtime becomes less frequent.

This alignment strengthens trust between operations, maintenance, and safety teams—and supports better outcomes across the board.

Bringing electrical assets into the digital conversation

Treating electrical distribution as an intelligent platform rather than static infrastructure allows it to participate in broader digital strategies. Condition insight supports lifecycle planning, capital decisions, and long-term reliability improvements.

It also elevates electrical systems from a background concern to a strategic asset.

Looking ahead

The food and beverage industry is moving toward a future in which electrical maintenance is proactive, data-informed, and integrated into the overall operational strategy. This shift isn’t about adopting a specific product; it’s about embracing visibility, accountability, and foresight.

Solutions like Siemens Sm@rtGear IE reflect this broader industry direction by enabling continuous condition awareness directly at the switchgear level. More importantly, they demonstrate how electrical systems can support safer work, stronger reliability, and more confident decision-making

As expectations continue to rise, organizations that rethink electrical maintenance today will be better positioned to operate safely, reliably, and competitively tomorrow.