Revamping: better to adapt the existing or implement new solutions?
Technology refresh of machines and plants, better known as revampinghas always had as its main objective to save investments made in the past thanks to interventions to increase their resistance over time, lengthening their life cycle.
lengthening their life cycle. Without disrupting the entire production process, it is possible to transform the tools that companies already have in order to significantly increase their production capacity increasing revenues and margins.
It's definitely a cost-effective approach that can implement efficiencies, and it's also often a way to get important results quickly.
Retrofitting working equipment with the latest technology provides immediate savings in maintenance costs. With the introduction of sensors capable of collecting new data or simply increasing the amount and frequency of data collected, you gain a greater ability to analyze what happens during production cycles and/or material handling. All this offers the opportunity to act to improve performance, reduce machine downtime, make mechanical improvements that can limit the wear and tear of certain components and thus obtain additional economic benefits. act to improve performance
The technological refresh represented by revamping is not a simplereplacement of existing components, but it requires the adaptation and/or the development of software capable of obtaining the maximum in terms of performance as well as a high capacity of reverse engineering not only of the software and of the electrical/electronic architecture of the machine or of the plant, but also and above all of the processes linked to it.
Acting at software level is not only necessary but allows to bring further improvements able to increase the speed of execution of the algorithms and therefore the speed with which a machine, a plant, an entire line is able to work.
But is revamping always the right solution? What are the scenarios in which it is more convenient to implement new solutions?
Obviously the cost/benefit ratio is the first evaluation to make in the choice, provided that the numbers on which we base ourselves are real and verified. However, it is necessary to consider in this report not only the direct costs of the intervention activities, and therefore the benefits in terms of cost optimization and increased capacity, but also the indirect impact that the intervention for technological adaptation will have on all activities.
It is therefore important to analyze various aspects to best support the decision-making process, for example:
- How long can production be stopped to allow for interventions?
- By intervening on a plant to make it more efficient, will I obtain benefits on the whole line or will I have to intervene also on other plants of the same line?
- If the upgrading of a plant requires action to be taken on other machines as well, can I always adopt a revamping logic for each of the machines on which it is necessary to intervene?
- If I have to intervene on the entire line, is the cost/benefit ratio of a revamping solution always higher than that of building a new line?
In short, each situation is specific therefore is important that in each intervention you do not limit yourself to assessing the specific impact but analyze it in the broadest possible company context.
Choosing professionals capable of guiding you in the choice of solutions to address current needs but open to adjustments and evolutions for future needs.
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