End of the Year Re-Stock of Wear and Spare Parts
Keeping proper wear and spare parts on the shelf can often be overlooked by a packager when focusing on meeting contract deadlines and getting the finished product to the end users on time. However, Liquid Packaging Solutions strongly suggests that packagers keep wear and spare parts on their own shelves to ensure that those two end goals are met! Nothing is more frustrating than a slow down or even stoppage in production while waiting for a part to be delivered for a packaging machine! The end of the year is a perfect time for packagers to assess the parts on their shelf and re-stock to ensure continuous efficient production.
Almost every packaging machine manufactured by LPS will include some type of wear part. A wear part will typically come in contact with some component of the packaging process, such as bottles or caps. Contact and other wear parts will eventually need to be replaced to keep a machine running efficiently. Wear parts should not be replaced often, and if they are this is likely a sign of an underlying issue, such as improper set up, but from time to time the parts wear enough to have an effect on the performance of the machine.
Luckily, most wear parts are easily replaceable. Overflow fill nozzles, for example, include a seal that covers the bottle opening during each fill cycle. These seals can be removed and replaced in a matter of minutes when the time comes. The wheels on a spindle capper complete the capping process by contacting the closure and spinning it down on the bottle. Again, the process of replacement of these wheels take only a matter of minutes. Keeping these and other replacement parts in stock can mean the difference between a few minutes of downtime and multiple days of downtime!
Of course, not every machine manufactured by LPS contains the same wear parts, and sometimes LPS recommends keeping non-wear parts on hand as well. When parts are custom made, the fabrication may take extra time, and keeping such parts on hand can save more time than just the shipping! Certain chucks for capping machines, for example, may be fabricated for unusually large or oddly shaped closures. Keeping a couple extra on hand will save not just the shipping time but also the time it would take to make the custom part.
LPS keeps a wide range of wear and spare parts in stock, in an attempt to minimize the downtime when new parts are necessary. Currently, some custom parts are taking even longer to fabricate when OEM's or supply chain vendors are involved. For this reason, LPS encourages packagers this year more than ever to prepare your own stock of wear and replacement parts as we move into 2021! For packagers that are uncertain of which parts to keep in stock, LPS technicians can help determine which parts are wear parts and which may take longer to re-stock. Feel free to contact LPS through the website Quick Connect to inquire about spare parts lists or orders! The LPS Parts Department can also be reached Toll-Free at 1-888-393-3693 or by emailing Tonya@LiquidPackagingSolution.com to answer questions and provide quotes!