Thoughts on acquiring equipment: People & Companies

Hopefully, 2011 will be a good year for machine shops, and you probably have a list of goals to improve over last year’s results. If so, equipment upgrades may be among them.

Determining whether it’s the right time to acquire equipment can be a challenge. You want to maximize your capabilities and competitiveness with new productivity-enhancing technology, but it can be risky, putting your company on the line for a sizable commitment. The possibilities and options are extensive, and you should allocate plenty of time to evaluate them. This can be accomplished at trade shows or by personally visiting sales representatives.

Several machine tool dealers in our area have relocated to new facilities that include large showrooms, training rooms and even labs to assist customers with application issues and related machining problems. This is appealing for me. When my staff needs assistance, I know we’ll have a valuable information resource.

For some equipment, this level of support may not be necessary, and a new, high-tech showroom doesn’t necessarily equate to the perfect machine. Even so, it is good to see these companies thriving and offering great equipment in an environment more conducive to demonstrations and proper evaluation.

My dad started adding new and better equipment to our shop in the 1980s. Some of the equipment worked well and some didn’t, but the investment expanded our shop’s capabilities and helped diversify the business. In many cases, he made the commitment quickly and with little research, going on gut instinct. When my dad did research equipment more thoroughly, the experience wasn’t any better than winging it. Ultimately, you just never know whether an addition will work out as planned, so he usually took the fast track.