In 18 years of buying equipment, there was one thing I never included in my comparison matrix: the price.

There are several good suppliers of printers, component placement equipment, reflow ovens, wave soldering systems, dispensers, cleaners, etc. But there are differences from machine to machine and supplier to supplier. If you believe – as some do – that all electronic process equipment and suppliers are the same, and therefore commodities, you are incorrect.

(Note: I’ve discussed this topic before, but I am passionate about it and feel the need to restate it from time to time.)

There are significant, measurable differences in process equipment capability and reliability, and even more variations in what the supplier can offer in the areas of process expertise, product support, service, spare parts and training (process, equipment operation, and equipment maintenance). The difference in equipment capability and reliability is relatively easy to learn and understand because specifications can be reviewed, equipment evaluations conducted, references checked and so on. When selecting process equipment, it is vital to understand not just the equipment price, but its long-term value. Purchasing manufacturing equipment on price alone and expecting it to produce high-quality output 24 hours a day, 7 days a week is not a wise long-term strategy. Say you receive manufacturing equipment at no cost, 100% free, and that machine has excessive downtime or produces excessive defects; it would be the most expensive machine you have.

Differentiating equipment on price is a simple intellectual exercise performable by anyone who can compare two numbers. Understanding equipment’s long-term value is much more demanding, yet it should be the sole way process equipment is selected. If an operation loses several hours of production time or produces additional defects brought on by inferior (yet cheap!) equipment, the wrong decision was made. When inferior process equipment fails to optimize process quality or cycle time, the money saved on the sticker price is insignificant, and often quickly forgotten by management, which is now much more concerned with quality and cycle time problems and costs.

I worked for Motorola for almost 18 years and was responsible for selecting and purchasing process equipment for my division. When I presented equipment recommendations to senior management (a formal process at Motorola in those days), one thing I never included in my comparison matrix was the price of the equipment.

Management would inevitably ask: “Where is the column for the price of the equipment? Did you forget that?” My answer: “No.” I deliberately omitted the price because I was attempting to purchase equipment on value, not just price. I love a bargain as much as anybody, but a bargain is not based solely on price. Our division produced about $2 million worth of product per day. One hour of machine downtime or quality requiring repair or rework caused by inadequate process equipment would result in a significant loss of revenue for that day and, of course, the resulting customer dissatisfaction with late delivery or poor product quality.

Understanding what the equipment supplier can offer is vital and takes some engineering and investigation. Not only are you purchasing the equipment, you are “purchasing” the entire supplier of that equipment, including the organization’s spare parts, service, technical support, advanced process development, billing, management and so on. You must do business with equipment suppliers that can provide all the services you need when you need them.

If you purchase equipment from Supplier A, you cannot call Supplier B for service and spare parts. It would be silly to purchase equipment from a supplier with no service or spare parts organization. However, many customers don’t fully investigate and understand the capability of that supplier’s support organization until after the equipment is purchased. That may be too late.

Another critical aspect is the supplier’s support infrastructure in places where you are currently operating and where you may operate in the future. The equipment supplier must be able to support your needs worldwide. That support must also go beyond basic service and spare parts. For example, what R&D is the supplier doing to improve the performance of its equipment or to introduce innovative equipment that will enhance a process? Can the supplier evaluate an existing manufacturing operation and provide recommendations on quality and cycle time improvements?

You must understand if the equipment supplier can help you today by ensuring timely service and available parts, and in the future by implementing emerging technologies. You might ask for references, or even better, a customer list, so you can randomly select whom to contact. Typically, one asks for and checks references before hiring someone. At least the same level of investigation should be conducted before entering a long-term relationship with a supplier.

Joe Belmonte is project manager, advanced process development, at Speedline Technologies (speedlinetech.com); jbelmonte@speedlinetech.com. His column appears bimonthly.