M.R.U. – Machines Ready to Use

Whether or not you served in the United States Military, you may have heard of the acronym M.R.E. It stands for a Meal, Ready to Eat. Service members in field training or combat do not have time or luxury for much more than a snack that takes 2 minutes from start to finish… exactly what an MRE delivers.

At the ready and on stand bye, MRE’s have been in continual development since replacing Meal, Combat, Individual rations in 1981. Developments have included the introduction of biodegradable materials for inedible portions of the MRE, i.e. forks and spoons.

Similar to the speed and sustainable aspects of MRE’s – the used equipment segment of the packaging and processing industry has also offered speed and an environmentally-friendly approach.

According to David L. Chandler of MIT News Office, “production of a ton of steel generates almost two tons of CO2 emissions…” Used machinery is, in and of itself, inherently an environmentally approach for companies to take, not to mention the cost and time saving aspects that purchasing or renting pre-owned equipment brings.

As in the military, speed and “readiness” play a pivotal role in the Consumer Packaged Goods space as well. Whether a project continues or discontinues – every project benefits from faster speed to market. Likewise, we all benefit from machinery that is re-used, repurposed, and recycled from an environmental perspective.

As many of us in the CPG space know, roughly 15% CPG projects continue beyond the pilot. In looking for ways to expedite the beta stage of projects launches and minimize capital expenditures, used machinery offers a compelling fit for an industry with an 85% failure rate. The key is really to test more, faster, while spending less on each experiment or product launch.

Machines ready to use, or M.R.U.’s, provide a great opportunity to limit both your financial and lead time risk, along with reducing risk to our environment.

If the weather report reads 85% chance of rain – you’ll likely pack an umbrella. In the CPG industry, and more specifically new product launches, that umbrella is used machinery and equipment.