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Tips on finding the right equipment supplier

When choosing an equipment supplier, be well aware that you’re not just buying a piece of machinery to accomplish a certain task.

If the machine is an integral part of your line, you’re entering into a relationship that is more akin to a marriage. Here are a few things to consider:

1. Be transparent and consistent. Suppliers can only quote solutions based on what you’ve told them. If you’re not consistent with the information you provide to suppliers, you’re not getting apples-to-apples comparisons. Try to avoid keeping small pieces of information from certain suppliers just because they seem inconsequential. Often, they can be quite the opposite.

2. Look for industry-specific experience. A company whose strength is in snack packaging may not be the wisest choice for a frozen entrée application. Manufacturers often build areas of strategic expertise around certain industries and applications. Request customer references for applications in your industry.

3. Don’t make assumptions based on past history. Don’t automatically eliminate a supplier because of a supposedly poor reputation or a bad experience from long ago. Conversely, don’t skip customer reference checks from a supplier with a supposedly good reputation. Things change all the time, and companies that provided bad service years ago may provide good service today, and vice-versa.

4. Get out of the office and look around. It’s vitally important to go out and look at different machines in person—whether at the supplier’s plant or another customer’s operation. For some packagers, there seems to be an overreliance on equipment suppliers to make the case for their machines. A supplier salesperson can visit your site many times before you learn what’s possible from one visit to a machine supplier’s factory.  If a trip to the supplier’s factory isn’t worth it, it’s likely not a good fit.  Most importantly, when dealing with vendors, consultants, packaging distributors, and other end users, remember this: No question is a dumb question.

5. Learn the supplier’s processes. As you will likely be entering into a long relationship with your vendor, you need to know how they act or react in a given situation, from sale to delivery, from testing to implementation, and from training to support. Although all of these processes can be stipulated in the contract, it’s really a good idea to see how the vendor normally carries out such processes.  If you force a supplier into agreeing to something they don’t normally do, it stands to reason that they may have some problems fulfilling that obligation.  Look at service: Do they have service in the country you’re in; in the continent you’re in? Do they have a 24/7/365 support line? How soon can they get to you? What’s their guaranteed time to get a mechanic to you? Things break, screws fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place; how willing are they to help you with the machine when it inevitably breaks? Finally, try to choose vendors with qualified service technicians stationed close by. Paying travel and accommodation expenses for “factory-trained” service reps isn’t a bargain.  Companies without good transparent processes leave you open to mistakes; look closely at every detail of the proposed relationship.  Knowledge of processes can also give you a leg up on risk analysis and mitigation of issues that may arise.

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