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Best practices for specifying packaging machinery

There are a number of basic best practices that should be observed when buying packaging machinery of any stripe.

1. Document and discuss your requirements. Every machine purchase should start with an in-depth user-specification requirement so that no gray areas can slow or stall the equipment-building process. CPGs sometimes neglect to spend time conferring with suppliers on certain critical functionality aspects, and sometimes such aspects don’t necessarily make it into the specs. Not only is it a good idea to document all of the details, but it’s also crucial to follow up with frequent teleconferences and checks. Some experts believe it’s important to project-manage the supplier and machine buildout, going so far as to get dates and the names of the people on the supplier’s staff who are responsible for hitting those dates. 

2. Get operators and technicians involved early on. Cross-functional teams are often composed of employees who are too far removed from the production floor. While the executives will, and should, eventually make the call on a specific machine, the input from the operators, technicians, and mechanics (as well as the container, film, or material suppliers) can prevent missteps resulting in having to refabricate parts halfway through a project. One technique to involve line-level personnel is to hang the blueprints up in the break room for weeks before you actually purchase equipment for a brand new line. The operators can take ownership, be involved, and make notes right on the blueprints—and their specific knowledge of the floor space can be extremely insightful, and not readily apparent to someone who doesn’t spend eight hours a day there. 

3. Flexibility of equipment for other applications. Don’t assume you’re developing requirements just for one particular package. Marketing will most likely come knocking a year later with a request to go to a different package size. All of your assumptions in the beginning are no longer valid, and suddenly, your equipment has limited capabilities. You’ll be at fault because you didn’t think about what’s coming next. People put in high-speed lines that are not flexible enough to change: Suppose a consumer unit changes from a 12-pack to a six-pack; somehow you need to get more throughput to makes sixes or fours in the same machine, so you need to use more foresight when specifying equipment.

4. Don’t just replicate what you’ve done before. Doing so may be easier, more comfortable, and less risky, but you won’t be exposing yourself to new technologies and new vendors that may give your package and operation significant cost and time-to-shelf advantages. But, especially if it’s a new piece of machinery, something you never had before, make sure maintenance has all the documentation they need.

5. Don’t fall in love with technology. The machinery you specify ultimately depends on what the product is: Leave your engineer’s hat behind and think like a businessperson. If you specify machinery purely as an engineer, you may be prone to fall in love with a cool technology. But if you think like a businessperson, you’ll find the right tool for the problem. And that’s not necessarily the cheapest machine, but the one that works best for your product. The idea that one piece of machinery is “good enough” because it comes with a lower price tag, or an extremely lower price tag, can really create problems. By trying to save money up front, you end up spending more due to machine downtime, poor support and parts availability, poor accuracies, material waste (product and packaging materials), and so on. Buy the equipment that is right for your product.

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