Costs: Is a multi-head system really more cost-effective than a single-head machine?

When a business is selecting production equipment, it often has to weigh the cost-benefit ratio of multi-head and single-head machines.In the areas of equipment procurement, energy consumption, and production efficiency, we compare the two options to help you find the more cost-effective solution.

Why is everyone so concerned about how many heads to choose?

We in production are most worried about money being wasted.Lately a number of bosses have asked me, "Does it really make sense to spend double the money on a three-head machine when you could buy three single-head ones?" In fact, the answer to that depends on a number of factors.

If you can figure out these three accounts, you won't fall into any traps.

The first: the money that stings when you buy the equipment.

Single-head machines are like the fast-food restaurants on the street. The price of a single unit is indeed low (for example NT $ 50,000), but if you want to run three machines at the same time, you have to spend NT $ 150,000.A multi-head system may seem expensive at first (starting at around NT $ 200,000), but one system can do the work of three.However, it should be noted that some industries have high requirements for the precision of their equipment, and in these cases forcing the use of multiple heads is more likely to produce defective products.

Second, there is the invisible cash that is being burned up each day.

Last month, I went to Dongguan to visit a factory. The boss of a screw factory did the calculations for me: three single-head machines cost NT $ 1800 a month in electricity and NT $ 2000 a month for maintenance.After the switch to a multi-head system, the electricity bill was cut in half and the monthly maintenance costs were cut by NT $ 1,500.But if you happen to be in a slow season with few orders, having too much equipment running idle will only waste energy, and this point has to be carefully considered in advance.

The third cost: Time.

A Guangzhou food processing plant conducted a test in which three workers operated three single-head packaging machines to package gift boxes. They made mistakes all the time.After switching to a double-head system, two people can do the job, and the defect rate has dropped from 8 % to 2 %.The secret is to reduce the number of times that human intervention is necessary, and the efficiency will naturally rise.

Here are three steps to help you make decisions.

1. Crunch the numbers: Calculate the true cost of each product by adding the cost of the machine's electricity, maintenance and labor over its five-year lifespan.

Spend half a day in a production department: See what kind of problems arise in production (such as how long it takes to change a mold, how often there are breakdowns).

3. Rent before you buy: Many manufacturers offer three-month rental periods. Try before you buy.

Finally, a word from the heart: Of the customers we dealt with last year, 70 % of those who selected the bull market were stable, large-scale enterprises.If our factory were still in its start-up phase, the flexibility afforded by single-head equipment might be more important than the electricity bill.