Case Study – Avoid Suffering From Buying The Wrong Beam Line

AVOID SUFFERING FROM BUYING THE WRONG BEAMLINE

We all look at developing our business to improve our competitive position and be more efficient. It is fair to think about all of our assets when we do this as well as our people, guarding ourselves against making the incorrect choice.

A CEO of tier two 3000 tonnes per annum structural fabrication business had operated without a beamline for 40 years. The company felt as if they needed to ‘get in the game’ and purchase any beamline to become competitive. Once purchased they then discovered that the beamline specification did not meet the company’s performance expectations. The gaps in their business they intended to meet by purchasing the machine were not realised as well as they could have been if the correct machine was purchased.

The fabricator was moving into a new factory and they believed any beamline was going to better than not having one at all. They appreciated that it was an expensive exercise to expand their business and so they decided to purchase a low-cost beamline that their peers had also purchased. Unfortunately, they discovered that the beamline technology from France was 70% more productive & effective than the beamline they had purchased. The effect on the business was that the beamline had to run double shifts. It would also be impossible to be as profitable as the competition who were using the beamline that was built to meet a quality and performance standard, and not a price standard.

Everyone accepts that the European and American beamline manufacturers build quality is acceptable and that any machine will last a long time when serviced correctly. All beamline customers intend to invest in the correct machine that will continue to grow their business. What fabricators find however is that the beamline machine tool dealer may be serving self-interest in supplying any machine from a limited product range instead of the best solution that will grow the fabricators business.

Unsuspecting manufacturers, who wish to mend the gaps in their product, maybe navigated past deficiencies in the beamline or copying robot design that affects a fabricator's long term productivity, by the self-serving beamline builder or agent.

Businesses are advised to discuss with peers in the industry, not only machine performance but also whether the beamline agent is considered an alliance partner by demonstrating extensive experience and industry knowledge. Every business appreciates appropriate service for their machinery investments, after all the machines are working for decades. However, what fabricators found was that the means test between failures (MTBF) reliability is unacceptably high and a beamline, on average, has a downtime of 30 days per year due to service issues from alternative suppliers. This significantly impacts a fabricators cost and schedule. For a steel service centre, it can mean that they are incapable of supplying 1.5 tonnes per hour to the market.