The Economics of Equipment Selection

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Financing capital equipment is certainly a large part of a fabricator’s economic equation. However, the selection of your equipment has a long-term economic impact, especially if you overlook a few critical points.

As IPS President and CEO Mike Brask recently explained, the first step in this process is to really understand your technological needs and the flexibility that’s required for your equipment to carry you into the future. For example, in a recent ENEPIG line that IPS delivered, the customer wanted the capability to add new chemistry tanks in the next few years, so IPS designed flexibility into a line that allowed for that upgrade down the road. By thinking beyond current needs, the customer will save a lot of money and valuable runtime. 

If you are selecting equipment for a brownfield site bound by space constraints, working with your equipment supplier up front can really pay off. Equipment specialists will help you optimize the features you need and eliminate the ones you don’t, all while working within the space constraints. 

To that end, in the equipment selection process be sure to work with all your stakeholders as a team. Look at the entire plan so that you are not a one-move chess player. Think about your needs beyond today’s purchase and build a technology roadmap for future purchases as well. This will help you plan your utilities, venting, DI, water, and waste treatment, thus saving you resources and maximizing your runtime. 

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This article first appeared in the December 2023 issue of PCB007 Magazine.