The Importance of Quality and Know-How
It is important for any business making a large investment in processing equipment to assure they are working with knowledgeable people who will be there for you. As I have heard over the years, you can buy a piano from anyone, but you need to know how to play it. The same goes for major processing equipment purchases like extrusion machines.
When buying large processing equipment such as extruders and presses, I constantly hear of the need of support. Here are the questions they ask:
- Will the supplier provide durable and reliable equipment so I can minimize shutdowns?
- Will the supplier provide good start-up and training services so I can maintain my equipment for the long term?
- Are quality parts easily available?
- Are service technicians and engineers available to respond to questions?
- Are nutritionists available to help them maximize on the quality of their extruded food or feed and help them sell to their end customer?
Let’s look at some examples which support the importance of answering the above questions in a positive way.
If your processed soy is not being digested effectively by your end customer’s animals such as chickens, they won’t be buying your soy for long. On the other hand, if you process your soy in a manner that maximized the digestibility so your customer’s chickens grow faster, while eating less, you will have a very happy customer who will not buy from anyone else and in fact tell his friends about you.
Or, if your plant shuts down, because the parts are not lasting or you were not instructed properly on how to set up your plant, imagine the money you will lose. There is nothing more costly than an idle production plant. The best plant is a plant that shuts down only for periodic maintenance once a week. Is your equipment and plant designed for this type of reliability?
Assuring your equipment is running and producing the best product output, can’t be undervalued. It’s truly invaluable.
