What constitutes value for money when buying an industrial gearbox? It would be a mistake to judge a product by its purchase price alone. UK Sales Manager, Brevini, Dave Brown, explains how OEMs and end-users can rely on the expertise of suppliers to ensure they see the best value for money.
Despite most industries now seeing growth and recovery, there has certainly been a shift in attitudes since the financial crash of 2008. Procurement managers and maintenance engineers are under a greater pressure to reduce costs. But you can’t calculate savings based on the purchase price alone; when it comes to value for money the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) must be considered to maximise long term savings. Finding the balance between initial cost and ongoing maintenance is the key.
In today’s industrial climate it is important for most businesses to find ways to cut costs to remain competitive. It’s no doubt that this is a noble pursuit, but it’s one that must be made strategically, with a long term plan in mind. Yes, it would be easy to strip back costs in a matter of months by specifying only the cheapest available components on the market; but what happens the following year when the components start to fail and expensive invoices start coming in for maintenance or replacement parts?
Of course there’s also no point specifying a component that’s over engineered for an application, as you will be paying for a level of performance that you just don’t need. The challenge is finding the sweet spot between purchase price and performance which will keep the accountants happy while also ensuring long term, reliable performance. It’s here that your suppliers can really add value to their service, if they are able offer expert guidance to design a solution that perfectly finds the balance.
Brevini, for example, has over 50 years’ experience designing, manufacturing, installing, maintaining and repairing gearboxes and fluid power components. During this time we’ve provided our services to every industry you can think of, from marine and offshore to food processing to metal production and to theme park ride manufacturers. Our engineers are experts in their field of component design and have experience in finding solutions for the unique challenges associated with almost every industry globally.
If you work with a supplier with this level of knowledge then they will be able to act as a partner during the specification process to build a package which performs to the precise tolerances of your application. Whether you need continuous operation with minimal maintenance requirements, high-torque loads with resistance to shock loading, excellent efficiency or a small design footprint, an experienced supplier will have dealt with these requirements before and will have the capability to offer a selection of different solutions and then customise the final choice to create a truly bespoke design.
Of course a service like this will lead to the initial purchase cost being slightly higher than an off-the-shelf component specified and bought from an online catalogue. However, the extra cost buys you peace of mind that once installed the component will provide you with years of trouble free operation – which will quickly mean it’s paid for itself and is generating tangible savings for your business.
