By Jim Fitch
Machinery Lubrication Magazine
Has it ever occurred to you that it was necessary to specifically ask your OEM to add modern lubrication to the bill-of-material when you purchase equipment from him?
Have you ever thought about selecting and specifying equipment based on life expectancy and life-cycle cost as opposed to just the initial cost?
Maybe this is a more familiar scenario: Your OEM includes high-performance filters, breathers and modern sampling hardware as standard items on its equipment.
However, your bargain-hunting purchasing agent perceives this as “building the ticket” and asks how much less the equipment would cost without these items. After getting a better price (his goal), the purchasing agent replies, “good, sell it to us without the premium filters, breathers and modern sampling hardware.”
Many purchasing agents earn bonuses based on their performance in driving down the cost of the equipment they purchase. However, these agents are never asked to pay back their bonuses when later this same equipment experiences high maintenance costs and frequent failures.
A better purchasing strategy for companies is to minimize the life cycle cost of ownership. When you buy cheap you often are buying problems. Compounding the issue, once a lowest price specification is in place, companies tend to buy the same problems again and again.