Capacity Utilization in Manufacturing: Adding a Second Shift vs. Buying Another Machine
Compare a second shift with another machine: define capacity utilization, examine production losses, and prepare the staffing, maintenance and capital questions.
Editors
Editors of Manufacturing Capital Notes. Guides cite public programme pages and separate them from the counts a plant fills in.
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) Records Required Before an Automation CapEx Request
Collect overall equipment effectiveness records for availability, performance, and quality, log the six big losses, and locate the packaging line bottleneck before an automation CapEx request.
Net Present Value (NPV) vs. Simple Payback for Manufacturing Equipment
Compare NPV and simple payback for equipment CapEx. Model ramp-up, maintenance and residual value, then use the downloadable cash-flow worksheet.
Manufacturing Equipment CapEx Budget Template: WBS, Contingency and Approval Math
An 8-bucket manufacturing equipment capex budget template covering Total Installed Cost, AACE equipment capex contingency tiers, ASC 360 capitalization, and capital expenditure approval math.
PLC Retrofit vs New Machine: Legacy Control System Upgrade and Capital Expenditure Approval
Evaluate a legacy control system upgrade vs new packaging machine for capital expenditure approval: mechanical runout gates, PLC retrofit vs new machine 30%–45% math, and UL 508A safety rules.
When a co-packing toll beats an in-house line
The May 2024 operator wage is 4.09 cents on a million packs. Leaving the line's basis out of that toll comparison picks the wrong arrangement.
Factory acceptance test (FAT): packaging machinery records checklist
A packaging machinery factory acceptance test checklist for requirements, materials, raw results, deviations and shipment-release records.
Packaging line automation: a phased roadmap for capital planning
Sequence packaging line automation around measured constraints, product trials and release gates, with a time ledger for each capital phase.
Contract packing and an in-house line answer different questions
Order mix, skills, quality records and equipment investment, compared without naming a contractor or a price.
Records to collect before buying manufacturing equipment
A checklist for the specification source, the trial, acceptance, delivery and the after-sales evidence.
How to write a packaging line investment case without a price
A blank case that names hypothetical counts and cost factors, and leaves every currency amount for the plant to fill in.
How a public programme describes research reaching manufacturers
What the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership page says about centers, advisors and a November 2024 headline.
Questions that differ when you retrofit or replace a station
Interface, validation and downtime, written once for keeping a machine and once for replacing it.