Refurbishment and replacement are not equally right in every situation. The 50% rule and a five-question framework help you distinguish when each path makes economic and operational sense.
Mercy Berglund
Introduction At a Glance Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) measures how often a packaging line is doing what you bought it to do, expressed as a percentage. The formula is simple: OEE = Availability × Performance × Quality Availability is the percentage of planned production time the line was actually running. Performance is the percentage of … Read more
Vertical startup is the achievement of design throughput and stable quality within days of going live, not the event of installation itself. Understanding the distinction transforms how operations leaders evaluate, plan, and contract for equipment projects.
Introduction At a Glance Typical packaging equipment projects range 4–6 months for a small-line retrofit to 12–18 months for a greenfield facility with regulatory qualification. Timeline variability isn’t random—it’s driven by three project archetypes defined by scope, integration complexity, and regulatory qualification. The critical path moves across four strategic gates: requirements approval, long-lead-item ordering, build … Read more
Three core specification documents—URS, FDS, and FRS—form the foundation of packaging equipment procurement and validation. Understanding their roles and the difference between them can save your project from FAT failures and costly rework.
