How To Balance Machine Performance And Value

By Author: steven glassner
Total Articles: 153
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In manufacturing businesses, being best is not enough. Shops need to improve constantly in order to stay ahead of the competition. They must keep acquiring new technologies, use branded parts like Mazak parts and Amada parts to maximize profitability. However, better machine monitoring data and equipment have made capital purchasing decisions complicated.

Many businesses prefer simplifying machine tool acquisition processes by prioritizing value - but it comes at the cost of performance. To attain high ROI, it's necessary to have a balance between the two. It may seem daunting at first, but it's easier to keep up with technological advancement and grow business with the right methods.

1. Performance v/s Value

Performance and value together serve as a solution for all the factors that make up the machine. And thus, shops must consider all kinds of performance - from equipment to exceptionally versatile machines, important factors, decision-making time, etc.

Small shops, for instance, should evaluate external factors such as what OEM tools are included ...
... with machine purchase or how they can help in operations. So, as it grows, they would have resources to dedicate to process analysis and decision making.

2. Total Ownership Costs

This is the most important factor that businesses need to consider - despite their shop size. The more information they would be able to gather, the easier it would be to make sound decisions. For example, information on OEM's scheduled maintenance program can help estimate future service costs.

As the size increases, they can add more context to maximize ROI, such as cost of educational opportunities, application support provided by various OEMs, etc.

But, at last, they need to look for effective OEMs and spare parts like Mazak parts that can reduce the total ownership cost by offering comprehensive support packages.

3. Pre-Part Costs

As the operational volume grows, the importance of pre-part costs increases too. Besides, high volume is the norm in many industries. If these large manufactures have to cut a fraction of seconds from a part's cycle time, it could save them thousands and more dollars in a year. This is possible if they can balance performance and value, considering every factor from energy consumption to coolant evaporation.

OEMs like Mazak have experience and can help with pre-plan costs at a granular level. Besides, machine tool builders can help optimize the process.

4. Total LifeCycle Costs

For shops to maximize ROI, they need to go beyond the total cost of ownership and the cost spent over the machine's lifecycle, including resale value. After all, many manufacturers who purchase new machines plan to fund their next capital purchase by selling the old equipment. So, it's necessary to look at how quickly machines wear out and how much aftermath support is available.

The total lifecycle costs can change how businesses purchase machines. Hence, it's essential to choose brand manufacturers. Because the machines of those manufacturers are well-supported and durable, which decreases the lifetime cost compared to others. While the initial investment is high, the total lifetime cost remains less.

And when the businesses bring in faster cycle times, greater throughput, and durability of the brand solution, the costs further go down.

5. Capabilities and Capacity

Considering that minimizing capital cost increases ROI, many businesses create purchasing plans with a schedule for upgrading the equipment. This pre-planning ensures businesses that they have the equipment that meets the technological needs and requires less than planned maintenance.

So, the good rule of thumb is to replace 10% of capital investment annually to maintain competitiveness and sell the used machines to fund new ones.

Adding capabilities tend to increase the store's capacity. For example, many shops replace their single-use machine with multi-tasking equipment, which provides flexibility and helps get the work done in one.

In short, they need to partner with brand OEMs like Mazak and use branded parts to maintain productivity and budget.

Steve M Glassner is the General Manager of Alternative Parts Inc, the leading manufacturer and distributor of Amada machinery replacement parts. Steve is a Machine Tools industry enthusiast and frequently writes about various aspects of the industry.