Packaging Machine R&D Failure: Five Common Risk Points Buyers and Builders Should Watch

Packaging machines are built to wrap products, delivering both protection and presentation benefits. In practice, they are usually divided into two categories: integrated packaging within a production line, and peripheral equipment for product packaging. Even so, development projects can run into failure. The five points below are worth considering as practical references.

1. Buyer and seller fail to understand each other. When project engineers at fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies evaluate a packaging machine’s performance, they may set the threshold level unreasonably high—either to show that the machine’s internal systems are functioning normally, or to obtain actual operating data under the premise that the machine does not meet the company’s requirements. Once the packaging machine manufacturer learns the performance target expected by the FMCG company, it may feel enormous pressure to hit that number—or it may already know the target is impossible and unreasonable. The contract must be honored, but after the machine goes into use, recalling it from the FMCG company would be extremely costly. Those are the rules of the game. Both parties should prepare themselves for the possibility that data will fall short of expectations. Ideally, before the purchase, they should communicate openly and honestly about the machine’s real performance requirements and agree on the expected results.
2. A poor fit between manufacturer and application. Most mechanical equipment makers are founded or led by engineers, and many of those engineers have never faced a problem they believe they cannot solve. Numerous manufacturers offer a set of function combinations tailored to packaging machines. By adding non-core applications—or simply adding more functions—they may satisfy the customer, namely the FMCG company.
3. Incomplete description of packaging machine functions. Halfway through a packaging machine R&D project, the team may discover that the machine must also seal triangular stand-up pouches, zippers, or other accessories—items that were not included in the original plan. This shows that the initial function description was not based on actual needs. The result can include delayed delivery, higher costs, lower morale among project staff, and other negative outcomes.
4. Do not change the time schedule simply because changes arise. Changes are indeed possible. However, if the FMCG company expects the machinery manufacturer to accept them without altering the delivery date, the entire project can get stuck. Manufacturers, eager to please the customer, often rush these requirements into the overall packaging machine project. When a packaging machine R&D project originally expected to take 8 weeks moves into its ninth week, the project manager may use your requirements to justify the delay: “Since there will be a one-week delay anyway, we will definitely add the changes you asked for.” In reality, one such change can unexpectedly and frustratingly stretch the project to 12 weeks before completion.
5. Purchasing staff lack sufficient professional knowledge. A cross-functional procurement team is a common staffing model for packaging machinery selection. Some team members need some knowledge of buying packaging machinery, but they do not have to be experts. For example, members from non-technical areas such as finance or marketing may bring different perspectives; they may need training because, without technical expertise, they cannot judge what solutions a manufacturer can offer beyond a favorable selling price. It is therefore well worth training members in professional knowledge to build a strong purchasing team. The advantage of a cross-functional procurement team is that when members disagree, the team can seek common ground while preserving differences, communicate with members who lack professional knowledge and cannot decide on their own, and reach a result acceptable to all.

— This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-361809.html