Imported Vs Local -localising packing machine spares

For most  of the industrialised countries   bakery equipments and packaging machines  are sourced from local suppliers but for  the developing countries and  least industrialised country  majority of equipments are sourced from other  countries including packaging machines .

Packing machines for bread bagging , HFW ( Horizontal flow wrap machine ) machines (for biscuits , cakes , cookies  and wafers ), vertical pouch sealing machines and other accessories like carton sealing  machines . Packing machines  has got large number of  spares and these has to be replaced regularly  as they get worn out .
 

Packaging machine  once installed  by OEMs( Original  equipment  manufacturer ) requires  constant supply of spares for smooth functioning of machines , for which  spares are to be  imported from OEMS in bulk and kept in stock as inventory .

Imports  of these  spares sometimes  leads to stock out situation and  production loss , as imports of material involves   documents , dealing with several agencies  like  freight forwarder , transporters , custom authorities etc   .Another major problem is   lots of clarification and memos to be sent to OEMS on part specifications  or  material  are  returned  due to wrong interpretation of  serial numbers or part numbers .  Damages in transit  are frequent , even loss in transit are reported for  many smaller parts .

To cut down  over dependence  on off shore supplier and eliminate  production loss due to unavailability of spares  one needs to develop  a strategy  to gradually  replaces packing machines spares  locally . These would require plant engineers and technician to

• Select   critical spares  and  check whether these can be substituted
• Develop  a close relation ship  with  work shop and  bear cost  of development 
• Selection of material is important  and try to match the exact material specification 
• Don't sacrifice quality over  cost .

Some Parts which can substituted  in packaging machines

•    Carrier Lugs
•    Shafts
•    Gears
•    Guides 
•    Electrical switch gears
•    Pneumatic  valves and cylinder
•    Heaters 
•    Cutters/Knifes
•    Fabricated parts
•    Conveyor belts 
•    Rubber Rollers 

Its  always beneficial to develop  local  suppliers for imported packaging machines or other major bakery equipments.Its highly recommended to check whether the packing machine supplier has any local service representative  or not .