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How projects fail: 11 pitfalls to avoid

Packaging machinery projects fail for a number of reasons. Here are stumbling blocks to look out for.

1. Unrealistic expectations on both sides. Sometimes CPG companies set a higher level of performance, either to help justify the project internally, or to pad the number under the assumption that the machinery builder will fall short but still meet the actually desired speed. The machinery builder may feel pressure to commit to a performance requirement while suspecting—or knowing—it’s an unreasonable goal. Both sides are now set up for failure and disappointment. Better to have a frank discussion over the real performance requirements and align expectations before the project starts.

2. Poor vendor/application fit. Most machinery building companies are founded or run by engineers, and most engineers have never met a problem they didn’t think they could solve. Vendors that contract to build machines outside their core competence area, or that are simply too overloaded, may end up disappointing their CPG customer.

3. Poor or incomplete project scope. Don’t ever assume that anything can be taken for granted; for example, that the supplier knows your upstream or downstream processes, or that they know the ambient temperature in your factory. Something that may seem obvious to you may be a surprise to the company building your machines.

4. Not adjusting the schedule for changes. Changes do happen, but projects get into hot water when the CPG company expects machinery vendors to accommodate changes without impacting the delivery schedule. An eight-week machinery project that’s already slipping into nine weeks may use a change request to justify that delay. (“We’re going to be a week late anyway, so sure, we’ll take on that request.”) In reality, such a change may turn it into a 12-week project, much to everyone’s surprise.

5. Insufficient expertise on both sides of the table. When specifying equipment, you need to consider absolutely everything, and sometimes the folks who will be operating the machinery know something that engineers on the supplier and customer side won’t know. You need to get them involved early in the process. Here’s a war story from a supplier that shows a good reason why: “We were building a machine for a company that sold processed and packaged spices. Garlic is extraordinarily sticky in a certain humidity range. We didn’t know that! It was not included in the 50 pages of specifications, they just assumed everyone knew. We might have built them a grossly inappropriate machine; luckily, we averted disaster because they happened to mention it at one meeting! Vendors don’t know the eccentricities and idiosyncrasies of your product that you do. The operators know, but the 26-year-old engineer that draws up the specs doesn’t.”

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