The poultry company referred to above had to run exces- with north of 10 million cycles and provide services sive overtime on their planned shifts because downtime to equipment with lifetime cycle counts of more than on the packaging line delayed processing completion of 25 million cycles. In any case, considering the length of their perishable product. An in-plant trial demonstrated productive service in buying decisions can make a MOSCA's reliability, enabling the plant to eliminate the difference in long-term investment success. overtime, and led the company to switch to MOSCA equipment across their multi-plant network. The Takeaway Maintenance Costs The point is that whatever the requirement, it makes sense to do a TCO evaluation of potential solutions vs. Maintenance costs, including parts and labor, in-house the requirements of the process to be served in order to and contracted, can vary dramatically between manu- make the optimum investment choice. While pure numeric facturers. Beyond production speeds, make sure the evaluations are impractical, comparison of supplier costs equipment you consider is built for the volume require- and capabilities across basic TCO elements will often lead ments of the operation. Inexpensive equipment may be to a better investment outcome than focusing on the sufficient for low-volume or occasional use, but for high upfront price alone. production operations, it is best to consider suppliers and equipment that is proven in high production environments. Check out the construction of the equipment under consi- deration. Ask questions about the ruggedness and acces- sibility of key operating components and assemblies. Be sure the manufacturer has top-notch technical service support in the field and via phone and/or internet. If your operation works on a 24-hour schedule, look for around- the-clock service availability from the supplier. Discuss service intervals to get a feeling for the day-to-day reliability of the equipment. Suppliers that recommend monthly or quarterly service contracts vs. those that recommend semi-annual or annual planned service calls may have majorly differing part and labor costs. Differences are worth investigating. A simple tip for evaluating differences in equipment is to assess the smart use of technology to simplify the mecha- nics of machinery. MOSCA equipment, for example, uses direct drives instead of mechanical transmission systems, reducing wear, dirt, and noise in bundling and unitizing systems. The same is true for their SoniXs ultra-sonic strap sealing system, which is cleaner, quieter and, with a typical operating life of more than 5 million cycles, much longer-lived than competitive friction and heat seal welding systems. Productive Life The final issue to consider is working life. For strapping equipment, the number of strapping cycles is a good indicator of suitability for a given application as well as for the length of reliable service. Again, the best choice depends on the demands of the operation. At EAM- MOSCA, where the focus is on demanding production requirements, cycle counts in excess of a million per year Ralph Morini Executive Consultant Tel.: +1 800-456-3420 are common. We have many machines running reliably E-Mail: info@eammosca.com 30