To some, that still-running, 30-year-old piece of shop equipment is an indispensable tool, integral to day-to-day manufacturing operations. To others, the same machine is not worth the current scrap metal price, and is ready for retirement.
Sending it out to pasture and buying a replacement is always a complex process. Now, as information becomes more readily available, understanding this becomes even more important.
An interesting byproduct of the recent recession is the influx of used equipment into the marketplace. Now lathes, mills, saws, press brakes, and even multiaxis laser cutters and CMMs sometimes can be had for a song.
However, as the Romans knew: caveat emptor. That’s “let the buyer beware” for those of us whose Latin is a little oxidized. Now while my Latin is only a little bit rustier than my car, the advice itself is still sound.
As the loonie sits near par with the U.S. greenback, companies with on-hand cash have a great opportunity to upgrade their technology.
While this decision can be seen as similar to buying a vehicle, it also differs in one important way. The dissimilarity lies in the fact that you can’t get a CARFAX® report on a used piece of equipment like you can for a used automobile.
So before you take your old equipment to the set of Antiques Roadshow, consider first the consequences of buying a lemon. You may spark a few giggles driving around in a well-used, lime-green Ford Ranchero, but if you make a mistake and buy the wrong machine, no one will be laughing.
Web sites have also popped up all over cyberspace offering the chance to own this “like new” equipment. And, although they may be good places to find a mountain bike or a set of golf clubs, online swap meets may not be the best place to find quality manufacturing technology.
This means that, once again, the human being comes out on top. It’s not just our opposable thumbs that made us masters of our domain, but also higher reasoning.
Finding a trusted source of information and a trusted supplier is important when running a business today. People buy from people, and nothing can replace the relationship between a trusted salesperson and his client.
At least that’s what Herb Tarlek told me.
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