As obsolescence becomes a more pressing issue in the food and beverage industry, some producers have questions about how (and when) to best approach the upgrading of older solutions. Here, we share four tips for keeping on top of lifecycle management – and keeping your plant up and running.
Rising material costs, outdated software and other modern complications have made the toll of unplanned downtime more damaging than ever. Staying profitable means staying agile. It’s not enough to simply solve problems. Today, you need a proactive approach to all aspects of your operation – including lifecycle management.
But what does being “proactive” actually mean here? Based on extensive experience from Tetra Pak’s own in-house upgrade experts1, we offer four proven steps for getting ahead, and staying in the black:
As the old saying goes: knowledge is power. To stay on top of obsolescence, you need to understand the actual threat level in your plant. This means having as comprehensive an overview of your assets as possible, at any given point in time.
Mapping out plant obsolescence, however, is rarely a simple task. One particular challenge is that different suppliers use different methods, systems and terminology to classify the lifecycle phase of their parts and components. This can make it difficult to develop a clear picture when looking at one plant with thousands of units installed.
It can therefore be useful to simplify your asset categorisation, lumping manufacturers’ lifecycle phases together according to a broader set of criteria. Generally speaking, there are three main lifecycle stages that food and beverage producers will need to consider for an evaluation of this type. The easiest way to understand these is to picture a traffic stoplight:
After performing such a plant evaluation, it’s not unheard of for a food or beverage producer to discover that only a minority of their assets are in the “green light” stage. It’s a stressful revelation: how do you handle a situation where most of your equipment is obsolete or about to become so?
Replacing all of the “red” and “yellow” components in one go is almost always out of the question. The cost and downtime needed to perform such a comprehensive plant overhaul will be unrealistic for most businesses. It’s therefore important to not only identify the risks, but to prioritise them according to the needs of your production and the types of machines you have installed.
For instance, we all know that some plant assets are far more “operations critical” than others. While an unplanned failure for one component could lead to a total production stop, there is typically less-frequently-used equipment that can go offline without creating a major business interruption. Similarly, some parts, although technically “obsolete” according to the above criteria, may still be able to provide reliable operation for a long time without much risk of a serious breakdown.
What’s needed at this stage of the process is a cost-benefit assessment of your lifecycle management needs. In other words, an evaluation of what certain upgrades will cost, relative to the potential risk of leaving the obsolete part in place. You may find that some components need to be replaced as soon as possible, while other updates can likely wait until your next planned service stop. For the lowest priority parts, it may even be possible to postpone an upgrade indefinitely.
Once you have identified your top priorities, how do you carry out service work in the best possible way? Every lifecycle management strategy is unique, but, in broad terms, there are two main approaches to consider:
- A rip-and-replace strategy, with a comprehensive upgrade taking place from start to finish during a longer period of planned downtime.
- A phase-in strategy, where gradual upgrades are made over a longer period during shorter production outages.
The “right” strategy is the one that can give you cost-effective assurance of production reliability and product quality, with the lowest long-term cost of ownership. This, in turn, again depends on factors specific to your plant, including the market in which you operate and even the type of products you produce.
For example, seasonal products like ice cream usually have periods of high-intensity production followed by off-seasons when longer service projects are possible. Producers of ice cream and similar products may therefore be able to plan a rip-and-replace upgrade to entire lines without interrupting the course of normal operations.
A dairy beverage producer, on the other hand, needs to produce continuously, year-round. Here, an extended service stop – even when planned – can interfere with yield and profitability. A phase-in plan often proves more cost effective in these cases.
Nobody understands your plant’s needs better than you and your workforce. You know which lines are most critical to production, which equipment is currently creating challenges, and which areas offer the most room for improvement. That expertise is fundamental to building your lifecycle management strategy.
At the same time, obsolescence mitigation is a field that requires a high degree of specialised knowledge. Assessing the lifecycle stage of your assets requires a complete, up-to-date understanding of the global plant components market. Extensive familiarity with and experience of obsolescence challenges can also be critical in informing how you prioritise your upgrades and plan your overall lifecycle strategy.
If the learning curve seems daunting, don’t worry. In fact, it’s rare that food and beverage producers will have these types of competencies in house. That’s why it can be a good idea to work with service providers who can offer support beyond typical routine maintenance and answer tough questions like those relating to lifecycle management. A service supplier who is unfamiliar with obsolescence planning will likely not be a good fit for your operations in the long term.
How Tetra Pak can help
As a global provider of food processing and packaging lines, we work with a range of suppliers around the globe who produce the parts, components, automation technologies and more used in our solutions. This gives us unique insight into the lifecycle status of not only the equipment we manufacture, but also other assets commonly employed throughout the food and beverage industry.
Using this knowledge, we regularly work with customers to map potential obsolescence risks and develop proactive lifecycle management strategies, according to the specific needs of a plant.
Our upgrade specialists track the lifecycle status of parts used in our lines and solutions, and we have a carefully designed process in place for supporting customers navigating these challenges. This process includes:
- Last-time buys: Whenever a sub-supplier announces end-of-life plans (yellow light), we secure parts stock to ensure customers will have reliable access to spares until a new solution is in place.
- 1-to-1 sourcing: We evaluate alternatives from our large portfolio of suppliers to ascertain if equivalent technologies are available to support a 1-to-1 replacement of the obsolete part.
- Development: When no suitable replacements exist in the market, we develop new solutions to address end-of-life challenges. In packaging lines, for example, these can take the form of standardised kits that enable efficient and reliable upgrades to the impacted equipment.
- Deployment: Our service engineers work closely with customers, making sure the upgrade is carried out in the right way and that the service is implemented according to the demands of the plant’s operations.
Ready to take control of your obsolescence?
Let’s work together to get your strategy in place. Contact us today to book a free plant assessment with our upgrade experts.
1 Unless otherwise noted, all information in this article is based on lengthy interviews with Mark Day and Nikolay Andreychikov, two Tetra Pak upgrade experts who have extensive experience in supporting food and beverage producers around the globe with plant obsolescence and lifecycle management challenges.