When you’re trying to save money in your budget, it can be hard to find places you can cut costs, especially if you need to purchase new machinery for your packaging line. Thankfully, though, buying used machinery can save your company thousands of dollars, and not just at the time of purchase. There are a few different ways that purchasing used equipment can save your company money over the long term.

Initial Purchase Price

Of course, the most obvious way that purchasing used equipment can save you money is at the outset—spending less money to outfit your production line is a straightforward method of cutting costs when you need new machines. Used machinery will still provide your business with years of reliable service, but at a fraction of the cost that purchasing all new machines would. Furthermore, since you save by buying used, you may be able to purchase more than one machine, which, while it may not reduce your costs, can increase your output.

Refurbished May Work Better

When you’re working with a budget, you may not be able to afford the newest model of a certain machine. If you choose a refurbished or used model, however, you may be able to get a newer model, which, theoretically, will work more efficiently than older models that are brand new. When you work with more efficient machines, you’ll save the company money since the refurbished packaging machines will likely be better at doing their jobs than older models. That means fewer mechanical failures, less downtime, and less time spent fixing problems and troubleshooting. This not only saves you money with the purchase of the product itself, but with time wasted spent trying to fix issues you are having with a particular machine .

As the years go on, you’ll find that used machinery will work just as well as new machinery—refurbished means that the machines have been fully inspected to ensure their efficiency and durability.

You know that packing machinery is an integral part of the way your company makes money, so why not use the most efficient method of doing so? Choose used and refurbished models and save money while you make money.

Boosting your profit margins can be as simple as improving the efficiency of your packaging line. If that statement seems vastly oversimplified, it’s because improving your packaging line’s efficiency may not be as easy as it seems.  Even if all it means for your particular business is getting new machinery, that alone has its own stipulations—things like finding room in the budget to do so, training employees on the new machinery, waiting for things to be delivered. Those aspects of purchasing new machinery are a big part of the entire process, and can’t be ignored. That being said, there are a couple other obvious ways to improve the efficiency of your packaging line.

Analyze Your Line

In order to make sure you’re getting the most out of your packaging line, you’ll want to perform an analysis of both the machines and the people working on them. What that means is you should monitor the line carefully for a period of time and take notes of where the slow spots are. Are there problems with packaging materials? Do the employees look like they’re handling the machines with ease? If not, more training should be administered so that your staff is as efficient as they can be.  If it’s the machinery itself, you’ll need to either troubleshoot your existing hardware or work on creating a plan to replace it sometime soon. If money is tight, you can find used and refurbished equipment that is in your price range that is still high quality.

Know When to Replace Machines

Figuring out which machines are the slowest can be as easy as timing them or measuring the output. Your perception of how fast it produces packages may be different than its actual output. For instance, if you think a machine is producing 120 packages per minute but it only produces 117 per minute, that’s 3 packages per minute that you aren’t getting the benefit of having produced. That’s 180 pieces per hour, or 1,440 pieces per day (based on an 8-hour day, more if your facility operates longer hours). While 3 pieces per minute may not seem like it would make much of a dent in your productivity, 1,440 per day puts your loss per week at anywhere between around 7,000 to 10,000 pieces. Over time, those loses add up both rapidly and significantly. You’ll want to weigh the cost of new machinery against the cost of missing out on that amount of productivity.

Buying packaging machinery and packaging supplies from two different vendors has been the way a lot of companies have been doing things for a long time. While it stands to reason to do so, as you’d imagine one company would specialize in machinery while another would specialize in the supplies, some companies sell both. It’s often beneficial to purchase both from the same vendor if you can, too.

Cutting Out the Middle Man

When you rely on packing supplies like film in order to get your work done, it can cause a problem if you run out, are sent the wrong kind by accident, or need a different type to suit your needs. If the vendor who supplies the film is out of the kind you need, you’ll be out of luck until you find a vendor who has what you need. You potentially also run the risk of dealing with vendors who can’t advise you on the best supplies to use for your particular machine. When you purchase from the same vendor, they’ll not only be able to supply you with the products you need, but they’ll be able to give you tips about which products will be best for your manufacturing needs, including new products that may be applicable to your industry.

Creating Lasting Business Relationships

Another benefit to purchasing machinery and supplies from the same vendor is that you’ll be able to build a lasting relationship with the people you work with. When you work with the same vendor for multiple facets of your business, it becomes easier to keep everything organized and in one place. Additionally, you’ll have the comfort of knowing that the vendor is there to help you when you need them, versus a vendor that you work with once and done, who doesn’t know much about your business or your product needs.