Industrial equipment: choosing the right investment

Investing in new industrial equipment can represent a significant financial risk for the company. How can you be sure of making the right decision when it sometimes amounts to several million euros?

Despite the deployment of an adapted maintenance plan, and following an analysis carried out with the analytical tool of your Mobility Work CMMS, you understand that maintaining one of your equipment is becoming too expensive. The condition of the equipment is no longer in a position to guarantee a satisfactory pace or quality of production. So you decide toInvest in new industrial equipment. Here are some guidelines to support you in your decision making.

Define your need

First of all, it is necessary to Know Exactly What You Need. This may seem obvious, but many projects have been delayed or even cancelled due to a poor definition of the need. The new industrial equipment must best match your activities, as well as your expectations.

To illustrate our point, we will use the example of a gantry machining center. In our case, we selected Four selection criteria, which can themselves be divided into sub-criteria:

• table;
• tool head;
• environment;
• Availability rate.

1st criterion: Table

In our case, the dimensions of the table as well as the strokes on each axis are important, because these will define our limits concerning the size of the parts that we can machine. We also retained the speed of movement on each axis, information that will allow us to estimate the machining times and therefore the cost price of our machined part on the various machines chosen.

2nd criterion: Tool head

Several data are important on the tool head. Spindle speed, precision of approach, the number of tools that can be integrated into the magazine as well as their type, weight and maximum dimensions achieved by the machine are all important sub-criteria allowing us to make a choice. We Will Be Able Compare the machines that exist on the market, from a productivity point of view, but we will also compare them with our existing machine park in order to standardize our tools and optimize serial changes as much as possible, a principle similar to SMED (single minute exchange of die).

3rd criterion: Environment

La Environmental Issue Is increasingly taken into account in the decision ofInvest in new equipment. Do the selected machines consume a lot of electricity? Do they require a large amount of oil?

You can find all the data concerning these first three criteria using the descriptive sheets in the Supplier hub from Mobility Work.

Access all documents (photos, videos, etc.) and checklists from the equipment sheet in your Mobility Work application

4th criterion: The Availability Rate

Important question when buying a machine: How do I know if the machine I want to buy is Reliable ? The first possibility available to you is to go to the home of a user of this machine. By Talking to Him, You Can Form an Opinion About His Availability rate ; but it's not always easy. Another possibility is to consult theTask History present within Mobility Work. This history allows you to see the intervention time carried out on equipment, to detect critical points and recurrent breakdowns, as well as to forecast a stock of spare parts if necessary.

These four criteria are the most important ones selected by the technical service. Other criteria may also be taken into account, such as price, after-sales service, certificates of conformity, etc. It is the departments concerned (purchasing, quality, logistics, etc.) that will indicate these criteria, knowing that such a type of investment does not take place alone, but in a team!

In Search of the Perfect Equipment

Now that your criteria (and sub-criteria) are defined, you need to write them down and weight them according to their importance.

MARQUEANOTEBNOTECNOTEWNOTENOMDS 82150 FOX NEV4 CROCPITC Course X1500081550091600010100006Y course280043750835006430010Z course11006150010150010150010Width between pillar 285043000541007485010Height under cross member 140001950622308267510Table width2000625008300010300010Table length15000916000101600010100006Charge/table3000/m2215000/m2105000/m2415000/m210X axis speed10 m/min425 m/mn632 m/mn632 m/mn840 m/mn10Y axis speed10 m/min425 m/mn632 m/mn632 m/mn840 m/mn10Z axis speed12 m/min425 m/mn632 m/mn632 m/mn830 m/mn7Spindle speed4500 rpm 56000105000750007Electronic CrankWireless 10HR-55010HR-41010HR-55010 5-10HR-55010 5-10HR-55010 5-axis head positioned 0.02 mm 90.02 mm 10 head fabricationtrade5 constructor5 constructor5 constructor5 constructor10 constructor10 constructor10 constructor10 constructor10 constructor10 constructor10 constructor10 constructor10 constructor10 constructor10 constructor10 constructor10 constructor10 constructor10 constructor10 constructor10 constructor10 constructor10 constructor10 constructor10 constructorClamping tool optionWithout 0 foot pedal 5 without 0 without 0Number of store tools3248010608405Max tool diameter120712510120712510Max tool length40084008500104008Max tool weight20820 kg825 kg1020 kg8Cone typeISO 5010ISO 5010ISO 5010ISO 5010CNFANUC 0iMD10TNC-i5308TNC-i5308TNC-i5308Spindle Motor Power30/37 Kw1037 Kw1035 Kw737 Kw10Spindle motor torque1000 n.M41298 n.M71005 n.M41822 N.M10Spindle motor speed 0 0 0 0Power consumption55 KVA 850 KVA 1050 KVA 1050 KVA 1050 KVA 10 Chip/X screw conveyor (2) 4 blade conveyor (2) 10 belt conveyor (2) 6 blade conveyor (2) 10Sprinkler pressure20 bar817 bar750 bar1020 bar8Lubrication tank capacity1000520001020001012006 Control Origin Renishaw10Renishaw10Renishaw10Renishaw10Renishaw10Renishaw10FairingNo0Yes5No0No0No0 No0 No0 No0 No0Guarantee1 year 55 years 101 year 51 year 5 Mechanical stiffness (--) 3 (+++) 10 (++) 6 (+++) 10Seller's After-Sales ServiceST ETIENNE 6 ALENCON 10 LYON 5 LYON 5 SAV manufacturer Taiwan 2 Lyon 5 SAV manufacturer Taiwan 2 Spain 10 Italy 7 Italy 7 Italy 7 strong point x 0 oil head x 10 width + 7 width + 7 calibration T 5 PRICE X 9 X 7 X5TOTAL points/360201311272286

On this table, here are all the criteria that have been selected for our future industrial equipment. In yellow we can find our first criterion (Table), in green our second criterion (Tool Head), in blue our third (Environment). The criteria in blank are those defined by the other departments involved in the purchase of the new equipment.

On each criterion, a score of 1 to 10 is given. This is maximum if it corresponds to Specifications, and is reduced in case the criterion deviates from our need. Of course, some criteria may be prohibitive, i.e. if one of them does not correspond to the specifications at all, then the equipment is out of our scope. If you think that certain criteria should be put forward, these can be weighted, and therefore have greater importance than the others.

Finally, when all your criteria are scored, the sum of the scores will give you a ranking. The higher the score, the closer the machine comes to your specifications.

Thanks to this method, you integrate all the data that is taken into account forPurchase of New Industrial Equipment, from a technical point of view, but also from the point of view of your employees in other departments of your company. This makes it possible not to omit criteria that may seem secondary to you and endanger your installation once arrived on your site.

Are you interested in maintenance management and want to know more in order to increase your productivity and save money?