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Don’t Forget! You Saw it in the
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August 2024 #16301 Page #40
Doing Your BCMC Homework
Edmond Lim, P.Eng. LimTek Solutions Inc.
t is that time of year again. With just two months until BCMC 2024 in Milwaukee, WI, here is some BCMC homework as you begin considering capital expenditures (CapEx). It is crucial to go beyond just the financial metrics like ROI and take into account several qualitative factors. And yes, all of these qualitative factors were on full display during our Feed the Beast! Plant Tour at Tindell’s last month.
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Reliability, after-sales support, availability of offthe-shelf spare parts, and easy routine maintenance requirements go hand-inhand to significantly reduce downtime if and when something goes wrong. For examples of how easily existing plant personnel can effectively keep Enventek automation and machinery running smoothly, check out my previous article, “Turning Supply Chain Constraints Into Opportunities.”
Tindell’s Feed the Beast attendees marvel at the simplicity and organization of cut pieces in front of the truss build tables. All of this is accomplished with just one dedicated lumber picker and one sawyer.
In fact, ease of use and training has become mission critical for all industries in today’s labor tight labor market, but fortunately some systems are up to the challenge. Each of our automation elements can be taught to run in less than 30 minutes. Our automation and processes are user-friendly, intuitive, easy, and safe to operate, as I reported earlier this summer in “Automation Elements That Can Benefit Any Size Truss Plant.” So when you are evaluating new equipment to increase your production capacity, you need to think beyond what you see in front of you. Do not just simply replace existing capacity with a new machine. Our solutions are designed to meet growing demand and are scalable incrementally, as I explore in “Incremental CapEx and Accelerated ROI.” In particular, long-term cost savings by reducing operating costs is a much-overlooked ROI attribute. Reduced operating costs, however, must be sustainable. Will a new machine or automation process continue to reduce operating costs years after the initial ROI or will it become a maintenance nightmare? Continued next page
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