PROCESSING & MACHINERY: CHOICES, CHOICES
performance outweighs any short-term advantage. The threats posed by the
introduction of counterfeit parts into machinery are numerous and usually severe; in contrast, any ‘benefits’ they can provide
inherently wider tolerances and therefore less accuracy and they are often assembled using sub standard mechanical parts which can be difficult to fit and wear down far quicker than a genuine component.
“In any industry, the balance between speed and quality needs to be right – too much of one and not enough of the other will ultimately end in failure. This is even more important in the FMCG industry”
are often minor. Once problems caused by non-standard parts occur, the input of a generic technician, someone who does not have knowledge of the specific machine involved, compounds the issue. The net results include more downtime of longer periods, lower quality operations, higher costs and damaged reputations. Electronic boards are
amongst the most common problems. The cheaper components they contain have
Only by using genuine parts
can businesses guarantee both the serviceability and the accuracy of their machinery. I once dealt with a customer we’d not heard from for a while to find that he’d been using an unofficial technician in the meantime. When we arrived, the situation had deteriorated to the point where the machine was totally out of action and in pieces. Our team had the machine working again in a couple of hours, but I still use
this as an example of what not to do, as the downtime involved was significant. Even if the machines continues
to run in the short term, accuracy is regularly compromised, which ultimately leads to incorrect packages being distributed. Products with inaccurate weights and poor quality contents will infuriate customers more than any other issue, so even if a machine continues to operate from a mechanical perspective, the serious problems it causes through inaccuracy will go unnoticed until the final products reach customers and the complaints come in. This way an inaccurate machine can cause wholesale damage that may not be picked up for a considerable period of time.
THE LAST WORD A great deal of pressure is placed on manufacturers these days and this will only continue as retailers and brands seek more efficiency in their supply chains. Developments in machinery technology have helped
manufacturers produce products quicker and more efficiently than ever before. However, the consequence of investing in the wrong machinery can last for years and a brand’s reputation may never fully recover. My advice to manufacturers is
this. Request to see all machinery in action first – suppliers are looking for sales, so make sure you demand as much from them as retailers demands from you. Look for the best features that are available, even the smallest benefit might make a huge difference in the long run. And finally, don’t take short cuts. A machine is a huge investment, so make sure you get it right. Utilise after sales teams and ensure authentic parts are used in any repairs for long-term
success.
Neil Fowell is the Managing Director of Yamato Scale Dataweigh, manufacturers of multihead weighers and
checkweighers. For more information, visit
www.yamatoscale.co.uk.
Neil is very concerned about the amount of counterfeit production machinery trading in the market. It is resulting in faulty products caus- ing entire production lines to close, losing the industry money
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