5 Tips for Buying New Machinery for Your Company

Equipment ⯀  

There are many challenges in running your own business, and one of them is major purchases like the industrial machinery you need to stay productive and competitive. Depending on your industry and your needs, you may find a lot of choices and hear many promises from various salespeople.

Here are five tips for making your machinery purchases smart investments.

Know What You Can Spend

Don’t start shopping around until you’ve gone over the books and determined what it’s wise to spend. With new machinery you may find options like financing plans, or you may have outside sources where you can get funding to make the purchase outright. Interest over time should be part of your calculations. Then draw up some ROI projections to be sure that what you hope to gain from the purchase justifies what you spend.

Research the Manufacturer, Not the Retailer

When you’re trying to determine the relative value of certain models, focus on who makes it rather than who sells it. As something you’re going to rely on, equipment quality is just as important as price. You want to form a good picture of the durability, stability, capacity, and support you can expect. Be sure it’s worth buying, then find the best deal on it.

Examine the Specs and Features

You’ll also want as complete a list as possible of all the specs and features. Whether it can do what you want it to is perhaps the most critical factor, as any compromise could negatively affect your output and quality. You might also have to worry about the level of difficulty in training your workforce, exact dimensions, safety features, specific power or fuel needs, raw material requirements, and more in order to get the best possible benefit.

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Installation and Assembly

Think about needs like installation, assembly, set-up, computer integration, and calibration. Will the manufacturer/retailer provide these services, or are you expected to handle these things? Shipping costs might be prohibitive, or you may need to contract with specialist technicians. Getting your money’s worth depends on machinery being set up to run optimally.

Maintenance Concerns

Everything eventually breaks down or needs a tune-up. Do your maintenance people have the skills to maintain the new equipment, or do you need a service contractor? Don’t forget about spare parts. You may need something like a new fluid pump from a site like http://www.compressor-pump.com right away. Before buying, check that you’re able to find a reliable source of quality parts.

Those are a few things to think about as you start integrating or upgrading machinery in your operations. The best possible value for your budget is important when purchasing, but don’t forget that future delays and problems will only lower that value.

By  Dixie Somers	Embed
Author Bio - Dixie is a freelance writer who loves to write about business, finance and self improvement. She lives in Arizona with her husband and three beautiful daughters.