As our lives become more technologically driven, we are more reliant upon industrial processes to not only manufacture the goods that we utilize, but also to provide the connectivity and safety that we rely upon. Most things ranging from the clothing that we wear to the cell phones in our hands are reliant on the industrial process in order to make our lives more convenient. Industrial facilities have evolved over time to be far more technologically advanced than they ever have been in the past. Advanced computer equipment and microprocessors as well as other circuit driven equipment are now found in almost every manufacturing process, and the costs that we pay as consumers are direct reflections of the improvements in speed and efficiency of these processes that has been caused by the integration of technologically advanced equipment. Any areas of the process which are impacted in a negative way, for example being taken off line or shut down completely, will ultimately result in consumers’ needing to pay more for goods and services. These things can even cause consumers to except a lower quality standard from the connectivity where they may have become used to a higher level of quality. Many of these negative impacts on industrial processes come from the natural events including power surges caused by lightning strikes. The direct strike to the equipment used industrial facilities is rare, but will generally inflict significant damage both at the strike point and as a result of the resulting power surge. The way that facilities protect against direct strikes is through the installation of overhead shielding and grounding equipment. Strikes that happen to the power and connectivity lines which run outside of the facility are more common and thus more problematic. The power generated by the lightning strike travels along these power lines effectively. This directs massive amounts of electricity towards facilities connected to the power lines, potentially coming into direct contact with the equipment utilized in any number of processes, ultimately damaging the circuitry needed to keep these processes online. The chain of events which happens when a piece of equipment is finally affected can create the catastrophic event in which the equipment is so damaged than it needs to be replaced completely. These types of events take the industrial processes offline and ultimately create slowdowns that can increase customer prices. Through the integration of industrial surge protection devices at the service entrance and installed throughout the building or industrial structure as well as close to the equipment as possible, overvoltage events can be mitigated if not avoided altogether. This allows for industrial facilities to continue to maintain operations effectively and for longer periods of time, thus allowing prices to remain low for the consumers. The industrial processes that enable connectivity also are able to remain online for longer timeframes, translating into a greater ability for people to themselves be productive. In this way, our own personal lives rely upon industrial surge protection directly. From the clothes we wear to the computers that we use and the internet we connect to in order to provide our own additions to productivity, we are dependent upon industrial surge protection more than ever.
