A Technology-Neutral Route to the Right Packaging Machine

Investing in a new packaging machine or a complete packaging line is a long-term decision. It is therefore essential to define the requirements carefully: Which products and formats need to be packaged? Which packaging materials will be used? What level of performance and automation is required? Can the system be integrated seamlessly into the existing peripheral equipment? Will the machine also be able to handle new formats, materials and changing production volumes? Companies that fail to clarify these points sufficiently before issuing a tender risk investing in a system that meets their current needs but reaches its limits after only a few years.

The requirements specification is the traditional instrument for establishing this basis for decision-making. It describes the client’s requirements and the desired outcome. It provides the foundation for the tender, communication with potential suppliers and the subsequent evaluation of their proposals. Based on this document, machinery manufacturers and suppliers develop specific technical solutions in their functional specifications or quotations. This approach helps to structure a complex procurement project and describe it in a way that allows several suppliers to be compared. So what could be wrong with this established process?

“A machine can meet every current requirement and still be the wrong investment. The traditional requirements specification often fails to recognise this risk. It primarily describes what the company already knows: the output rates, formats and materials of the existing system are carried over and therefore unconsciously become the benchmark for the future,” says Gass. This approach works when replacing an existing machine. However, it becomes problematic when the company is looking for a technological platform for the next ten to fifteen years. “In that case, it must be clear which future changes in materials, formats, volumes and automation the system will need to handle,” the consultant explains.

Define the Problem Before the Solution

Before issuing a tender, companies should avoid several fundamental mistakes to ensure that innovation potential does not remain untapped. Felix Gass warns, for example, against tendering for a familiar solution before fully understanding the problem. “Other issues include performance metrics adopted without scrutiny, too many mandatory criteria and a price comparison before it is technically clear what is actually being compared,” says Gass.

Instead, companies should define a clear target state and work towards it systematically. According to Gass, the traditional requirements specification offers only limited scope for this because it generally perpetuates the existing situation.

A Technology-Neutral Procurement Process as an Alternative

Companies investing in a new packaging machine want to ensure that their investment will remain viable in the future. Particularly in view of changing conditions, a system must be able to accommodate new requirements throughout its service life, including the PPWR, labour shortages, fluctuating volumes, automation and robotics. Felix Gass sums it up: “Future viability is not determined by the system’s condition upon delivery. It becomes apparent in the cost of the changes that will come later.”

For him, the process should therefore begin by asking which capabilities the production system will require over the coming years. “Only then can the company determine which machine might be suitable.”

The advantage of a technology-neutral process is that it does not prescribe the route to the solution. For this very reason, suppliers must explain all the more precisely how their approach works, under which conditions the promised performance can be achieved and where its limitations lie. “This keeps the solution space open without lowering the requirements for reliability,” emphasises Gass.

Three Tips for Procuring Packaging Machinery

A good procurement process creates a sound basis for selecting a technology that supports the company’s future development and can be operated economically even under changing conditions. Felix Gass recommends:

1. “Do not begin with the requirements specification or the supplier list. Begin with the future you are investing for: the portfolio, materials, volumes, automation and the dependencies you are consciously willing to accept. Then build the evaluation model before the first proposal arrives.”
2. “Take a close look at current production: Where do losses arise from format changes, low availability or insufficient flexibility? Which requirements have changed over the past few years? The answers reveal which problems the next system actually needs to solve.”
3. “Clarify who on the buyer’s side is responsible for maintaining an overview of the entire solution space. Every supplier knows its own technology in detail and has a legitimate interest in seeing it succeed. Within the company itself, this role is often not assigned. If it remains unassigned, the supplier with the most convincing presentation will determine the direction.”