Money talks

Suppliers and advocates of servo controls have contended for years that packaging machinery designed from the ground up around servo technology (so-called third-generation servo-driven equipment) is cheaper, better, and faster than all-mechanical alternatives. However, simply adding servos to an otherwise-unchanged mechanical design does not add much value, many users have found.

The users group known as OMAC (Open Modular Architecture Controls) Packaging Workgroup, in seeking to document the advantages of servo over mechanical designs, has conducted its first thorough financial comparison of the two types of machines. The comparison was conducted by a real end user based on actual in-plant experience. Both the old and new machines were manufactured by the same supplier—in this case, R.A. Jones. Because the numbers are extremely sensitive, the company that conducted this analysis agreed to participate in OMAC’s study only on the condition that the company’s name not be published.