Bright and Shiny Objects

As a plant engineering manager in the ’70s and ’80s I was sometimes accused of being an easy mark for salesmen. My colleagues said that I would buy anything that was electronic or had a digital display, whether we needed it or not. They were not completely wrong.

This thinking can influence purchases of new packaging and production machinery today. Everyone wants the shiniest and brightest with all the bells and whistles.

This approach is not necessarily bad but there can be a couple of problems with it.

First, is it cost justified? I was recently in a plant running a 1934 Canco can seamer in 2 shifts of daily production. A new seamer will have newer features and might even run slightly better. The question to ask is how much will it cost to own and operate compared to the old machine? If the monetary benefit to a more modern machine is not there, there is no reason to replace the old one. (See Chapter 3 of Secrets of Buying Packaging Machinery by Rich Frain and John Henry for an in-depth discussion of cost/benefit evaluation)

The human side is important as well. A more sophisticated machine may be more productive – until it breaks. Mechanics and electricians accustomed to working with simpler electro/mechanical machinery may not be able to keep the servos, PLCs and other electronics of a more modern machine running. If the plant does not have these skills, it will be necessary to train the team or perhaps even hire additional people with the necessary skills. This can be more difficult than it sounds depending on the local labor market.

Your plant needs to be as efficient as possible, producing the maximum output from the given inputs. Sometimes slow-tech beats hi-tech.

*Photo credit to Al_HikesAZ