Uncovering feeding’s real costs
When selecting a feeding system, you need to consider not just its initial cost but all the costs related to operating and servicing the system over its lifetime.
This article tells you how to evaluate a feeding system’s total cost by counting up the system’s acquisition, functional efficiency, and support costs in
terms of your application. Included are easy-to-follow
examples for computing feeding costs, a step-by-step strategy for minimizing ingredient costs, and a method for evaluating other intangible factors when making your final decision.
A feeding system for dry bulk solids performs the important function of dosing ingredients into a food, plastics, pharmaceutical, or other product blend in exactly the right proportion. The system typically includes multiple feeders and a controller. Whether gravimetric or volumetric, an accurate, efficient feeding system can quickly pay for itself by reducing your ingredient costs and keeping your process line up and running. But many
of us don’t consider these long-term cost savings when we shop for a feeding system. Instead, we look only at the feeding system’s purchase price.