Variable Speed Drives (VSDs) and Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) sit at the heart of many modern industrial operations. When they’re working, they’re often invisible. When they fail, the impact can be immediate — and expensive.
Yet despite how critical these assets are, many businesses still struggle to answer one simple question:
What does a VSD or VFD failure actually cost us per day?
Without that answer, decisions around repair, replacement, emergency hire, and spares strategy are often made under pressure — and without clear financial context.
VSD / VFD Failures Don’t Just Stop Equipment — They Stop Processes
Unlike purely mechanical failures, drive-related faults often result in:
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- Instant loss of control
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- Complete process stoppage
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- Inability to bypass or limp-mode equipment
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- Extended restart and commissioning time once resolved
For critical equipment, a single VSD or VFD failure can halt:
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- Conveying systems
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- Fans, pumps, and compressors
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- Kilns, furnaces, and production lines
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- Energy-intensive or safety-critical processes
And once production stops, the cost clock starts ticking.
The Hidden Cost of “Just Get It Running”
In emergency situations, businesses often do what they have to do — not what they planned to do.
That can mean:
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- Emergency VSD / VFD repair call-outs
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- Express parts sourcing or couriered drives
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- Temporary emergency drive hire
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- Overtime labour to recover lost production
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- Extended commissioning and testing time
Each decision makes sense in isolation. But collectively, they can significantly increase the true cost of downtime — especially when the equipment is critical to ongoing operations.
Critical vs Non-Critical Drives: Why the Difference Matters
Not every drive failure carries the same risk.
A non-critical VSD may allow production to be rerouted, slowed, or temporarily deferred.
A critical VFD, however, often forces immediate action — regardless of cost.
Understanding whether a drive is critical changes:
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- How urgently you respond
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- Whether emergency hire is required
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- Whether repair or replacement is the fastest option
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- How much downtime your business can realistically absorb
Without quantifying this, it’s difficult to justify proactive strategies such as:
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- Holding spare drives
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- Planned refurbishment
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- Redundancy or upgrade projects
Why Rough Estimates Aren’t Enough
At New Start Energy, we regularly see organisations underestimate downtime because:
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- Revenue is averaged incorrectly
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- Partial equipment stoppages aren’t accounted for
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- Recovery and commissioning time is overlooked
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- Drive-related failures are treated as “just another fault”
In reality, the financial impact of a VSD or VFD failure is often far higher than expected — particularly once emergency response costs are included.
That’s why having a clear, structured way to calculate downtime cost is essential.
Turning VSD & VFD Downtime into Actionable Insight
When downtime is quantified properly, it becomes a decision-making tool rather than a reactionary headache.
Clear cost visibility allows you to:
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- Compare emergency repair vs emergency hire
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- Justify holding critical spares
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- Prioritise which drives need attention first
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- Build a stronger business case for upgrades or lifecycle replacement
Most importantly, it creates alignment between engineering, operations, and finance — all working from the same numbers.
Built from Real-World Experience at NSE
At New Start Energy, our work spans:
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- VSD / VFD repair and refurbishment
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- Emergency drive hire solutions
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- Critical asset recovery and recommissioning
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- Long-term drive strategy and resilience planning
The Cost of Downtime Calculator was built from this real-world experience — not theoretical assumptions.
It’s designed to reflect:
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- How drives actually fail
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- How sites actually respond
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- And how costs actually escalate
Our Free Cost of Downtime Calculator
To help businesses understand the true financial impact of drive-related downtime, we’ve created a free Cost of Downtime Calculator.
It allows you to:
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- Quantify direct revenue loss from VSD / VFD failures
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- Account for partial stoppages and recovery time
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- Understand how criticality changes exposure
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- Identify when emergency repair or hire becomes the right decision
No hidden multipliers.
No inflated assumptions.
Just a clear, defensible view of what downtime really costs your operation.
Because when VSDs or VFDs fail, the right decision depends on knowing the numbers — not guessing them.
Fill in your details to get your FREE copy of our
Downtime Cost Calculator