Processing Costs Sky High? Lower Your Equipment costs - Pressure Leaf Filters for Example

View PDF | Print View
by: ewesterman@beacontec.com
Total views: 22
Word Count: 523
Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2010 Time: 11:29 PM
0 comments

What do used process equipment products - like a pressure leaf filter - have to do with saving jobs? Find out here:

This is not a good time for industry. Making ends meet has rarely been tougher for processors, builders, manufacturers, and ilk. Surprisingly, this follows a golden age for American industry. Industrial companies were actually price setters for most of the past ten years, which is a rarity in and of itself. However, those days are past and the nation must adjust to the current period as if it were the new normal.

The construction industry has really taken a beating during the great recession. The US market has seen construction prices plummet from its 2008 peak, but costs to the companies in the industry have not fallen at a commensurate level. Many companies are being forced to take on projects that pay below a break-even point just to stay in business.

Until the economy turns around, construction companies will not be able to force these prices back up (at least not without massive shutdowns that lead to supply decreasing). If they are being honest with themselves, they probably realize that this decade's peak prices were probably a bit inflated from where they should have been anyways. As such, the only way to gain profitability would be to lower costs. This is difficult as most companies are already working with a skeleton crew and overhead costs are what they are.

The solution lies in finding cheaper equipment. For large scale companies, process equipment is a huge expense. For example, a pressure leaf filter can run well into the tens of thousands of dollars. That is a large expense to simply remove particles from your product. But, a used pressure leaf filter - one that is reliable and proven from past use - can be had at a fraction of the price. In this economy, how does buying new make sense?

The advantages of going with used products over new products at this point in time are numerous. First of all, used products are typically just as reliable - if not more so - than new units. They are proven performers, otherwise they would be junked and not resold (assuming that you trust the retailer). Second, used products offer multiple savings over new products. There are the obvious lower initial costs, but do not forget that - because the equipment is already aged - there are also lower depreciation costs. While depreciation is an intangible cost that is not actually realized until the product is resold or junked, it is still an accounting cost and factors into the overhead for each and every item/project produced. Third, used process equipment has obviously been around longer so we have a better understanding of it. Much of it is simpler than the complicated machinery of modern equipment and is easier to fix if it were to break down.

If a construction or processing company is to survive through the Great Recession, they have to think smarter in addition to working harder. You can't save your way to prosperity, but you can save your way to survival.

About the Author

-EW

For More Information on:

Pressure Leaf Filter