Decommissioning or Scrapping PTH/SMT equipment

First of all you need to show them why this particular machine is a problem. there is alot of things you can do to show this: 1. Keep log of downtime: When, why. 2. Keep track of upkeep expences: annual cost to keep operable. 3. Perform capability analysis: CPK or PPK? ( prove your point )

There is one thing out of your control though! What is left on the BOOKS? How much does your company still owe? If they owe more than they can get for a piece of equipment, you are most likely going to use it until they can make a profit . These were just a few things you can do; be creative.

That's just my opinion, I could be wrong!

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Armin: The stuff that Jax says is spot-on from a "bean counter" stand-point. Not that I'm say that Jax is one, he's aparently had training in dealing with them.

But there's another apect that doesn't show on the spreadsheets and factor anaylsis. It's vision. THe BIG BOSS needs to understand how and when tech equipment contributes to the direction of the firm and when it doesn't. And in real life, they always do. The problem for many of us is that we don't agree.

Good luck Dave F

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I have a similar problem with a screen printer. It is 5 years old and has seen better days.But it still works, doesn't it ?

Now that most companies are fronted by financial guys and not engineers who have worked their way up, it is harder to prove your point.

It has to be justified. In numbers. With a suitable payback period, say 3 years or less.

If a piece of kit is past it's sell by date, it will become inefficient. It is these inefficiencies that you must log and monitor and then using time with your hourly rate you can express your argument in pounds/dollars/shekels etc;

Armed with this "number", you can then calculate (guesstimate) what the new kit will save you.

One thing with cost justification is that a lot of people only calculate up to the point that the kit has paid for itself. However, the benefits go on after that !

Another quick pointer I tried was, that if my printer was a company car, it would have been replaced by now...(silence)

Good luck and happy arguing,

Chris.

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Dreamsniper,

Always remember your ace in the hole when it comes to equipment used in this industry; its complexity! CPK, PPK and various other cost studies are excellent ways to "communicate" to bean counters your situation with the particular machine, but what is Kryptonite to bean counters is a manufacturer who no longer supports these complex machine. Small volume companies usually can't afford to buy new Panasonics, Fuji's and MPM's. So they buy used equipment or machine from smaller vendor that can not afford to support (spare parts, technical help) those machines forever. We recently scrapped a machine because the vendor's only service engineer who could remember the model, RETIRED! In short, check with the machine vendor on their support plans for your machine; if you can't get parts, you can't fix it.

Good Luck! Jon

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