Why Cutting Corners Hurts Your Bottom Line
These days it’s a balancing act to keep the costs associated with a feed business down. Being competitive with input costs that change daily can be very complicated. Grain, energy, and fuel costs require almost daily adjustments to meet the bottom line. Looking for places to cut costs becomes a necessity, and a pile of spare parts sitting on the shelf looks like a good place to start. But this is wrong, and here’s why.
Downtime is a killer in any production-based business.
Most often, we can get what you need shipped overnight, but shipping itself has followed the price of fuel and has become very expensive. Overnight shipping can often end up costing more than the price of the actual parts. Having the spare parts on site can mean a shutdown of a few hours compared with a few days.
So, what parts should you keep in stock?
Most customers purchase spare parts with the initial extruder order. These are internal and external parts for the extruder barrel. It also includes seals, gaskets, and front plate bolts. The spare parts packages are custom-made for the products the customer is producing and are usually enough to last a year.
Additionally, in the case of customers with multiple extruders, it could be a good idea to have a spare shaft and bearing housing ready to go, especially if oil presses are being used. A shaft and bearing housing are going to ship motor freight and could take as much as five days to get there.
And, of course, the best way to keep parts costs down is always by using clean, quality ingredients and having regular scheduled maintenance of your equipment.
