An exclusive survey of packaging machinery builders reveals that in the absence of standards machine builders are scrambling to “learn whatever the customer throws at us in a limited amount of time,” in the words of one respondent. Worse, customers appear reluctant to pay for extra time equipment manufacturers must often spend learning unfamiliar networking technologies. Respondents to this survey, conducted on Packworld.com, consisted exclusively of machinery builders, distributors, and integrators (see “Methodology,” p. 55). A survey published last month focused on packaging machine buyers (Packaging World, Sept. 2001, p. 39, or packworld.com/go/networking).
See sidebar to this article: Respondents: Packagers don't appreciate engineering costs
See sidebar to this article: Methodology
