As fall approaches, many manufacturers are beginning to look ahead to the coming year: growth objectives, capacity requirements, modernization projects and, eventually, capital expenditure budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Storcan, our experience has taught us one thing: the best automation projects do not start with selecting a piece of equipment. They start with a clear understanding of what is actually happening on the production line.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Since 1976, our teams have been designing, manufacturing and integrating conveyor systems and automated solutions for demanding production environments, particularly in the food processing industry. Over the years and across many projects, they have seen very different production lines: new and aging installations, highly automated and largely manual processes, high-volume production and operations handling multiple formats. Yet despite this diversity, certain situations come up time and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A piece of equipment that performs well individually but creates an imbalance elsewhere on the line. An operator who compensates every day for a weakness in the process. Product accumulation that has gradually become accepted as normal. Micro-stops that seem insignificant but ultimately add up to hours of lost production. A machine being considered for replacement when the real problem is actually a few feet further down the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is why, before even discussing the 2027 CAPEX budget, we recommend going back to the plant floor to analyze the line<\/strong>. Not just with a KPI dashboard, but alongside operators, supervisors, maintenance and engineering teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are 5 questions our experts consider particularly useful for taking a step back and assessing a production line before deciding where to invest.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Where are we actually losing capacity on the production line?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is often the first question to ask, but it is not always the easiest to answer. There is the theoretical throughput of a line, and then there is what it actually produces during a shift. It is the gap between the two that interests us. A line may consist of individual pieces of equipment that are each capable of supporting the required throughput, yet still be unable to achieve the overall production target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why? Because a loss of capacity does not necessarily come from a major breakdown. It can result from repeated micro-stops, inconsistent product feeding, poorly controlled accumulation, changeovers that take too long, manual intervention or simply an imbalance between different machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is where observing the entire line on the plant floor becomes relevant:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first investment to consider may sometimes be hidden in the answers to these questions, where a small change could have a significant impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Which pieces of equipment require too much attention?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When preparing a capital expenditure budget, it can be tempting to look first at the age of the equipment. But the oldest piece of equipment is not necessarily the one that should be replaced first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A newer machine that causes frequent stoppages, constantly requires adjustments or regularly calls for maintenance intervention may represent a much greater operating cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is therefore important to look beyond age and ask these questions for each machine:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And above all, talk to your maintenance team. Maintenance records provide part of the answer. Technicians often provide another. They know which machines are aging well, which ones are becoming unpredictable and which ones consume far too much time for the value they bring to production. This information should be part of the CAPEX planning process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Where are we using operators to compensate for the limitations of our line?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Automation does not mean systematically trying to eliminate manual positions. Instead, the goal should be to identify where human labor is being used to compensate for a weakness in the process:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over time, these ways of working can become so normal that they are no longer questioned. Yet they can reveal valuable opportunities for improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The question then becomes: Do we really need a person performing this operation, or do we need a better process?<\/strong> This is an important distinction when looking to automate intelligently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Is our line designed for what we will be producing in 2, 3 or 5 years?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n CAPEX decisions made for 2027 will likely continue to affect your operations for years to come. It is therefore important to look beyond current needs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In our projects, this consideration is particularly important because a piece of equipment that is perfectly suited to today’s product can become a constraint as requirements change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flexibility has economic value. A system that can accommodate multiple formats, accept future modules or be reconfigured more easily can help avoid another major investment a few years down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. What problem are we really trying to solve with our next investment?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This final question is probably the most important. Before discussing technology, suppliers or budgets, we try to be able to complete this sentence:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe want to invest because\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n From there, it becomes possible to evaluate different solutions and their potential return. A good CAPEX project should not simply result in the purchase of new equipment; it should solve a measurable operational problem over the long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What level of investment is justified by the value we can recover?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If a targeted intervention can reduce micro-stops, eliminate repetitive manual handling or better balance two pieces of equipment, is a major project really necessary? Conversely, if a constraint is preventing the plant from achieving its growth objectives for the next several years, would a minimal intervention simply postpone the problem?<\/p>\n\n\n\n For each improvement being considered, ask a few questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The goal is therefore not to find the least expensive or the most ambitious project, but rather the level of investment that is proportional to the operational and financial value the plant can realistically gain from it. The value of a project is not measured by its scale, but by the impact it can have on the plant’s overall performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If there is one piece of advice to take away from this exercise, it is this: before bringing management together around a table of potential investment projects, consider three perspectives: production data, the day-to-day reality on the plant floor and the company’s future objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To do this, involve the people who know the line from different perspectives:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The numbers will tell you where and how much you are losing. The plant floor will help you understand why. And your future objectives will help determine what is truly worth improving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is at the intersection of these three realities that investment priorities become clearer and that it becomes possible to determine the level of investment truly justified by the expected gains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since 1976, Storcan has been designing, manufacturing and integrating automated solutions for production lines. This experience has taught us to look at a line as a whole: the products and throughput, of course, but also operator interventions, maintenance requirements, space and sanitation constraints, upstream and downstream equipment, and growth objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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