Many businesses see smarter material sourcing, greener equipment, and operational changes as their gateway to a lower carbon footprint. All these play a valuable role, but what if the key to lowering your environmental impact is simply by keeping existing machinery on the production floor for as long as possible?
In a world of increasingly aggressive green initiatives, Best Packaging stays ahead of the curve because, “green” is built right into our business model. In 2020 alone, Best Packaging redirected 79,725 lbs (over 39 tons!) of steel away from scrappers, and back into the warehouses that keep America going. We are not, however, indiscriminate about which machines get salvaged. Best Packaging is diligent in our evaluations and repairs to ensure all equipment we sell, regardless of previous use, operates at peak performance when it arrives at the customer.
Quality refurbishment, worthy of the manufacturer’s endorsement, starts with an evaluation. Whether the machine in question is coming from a trusted customer (We offer a buyback program for our customers’ old machines.) or an auctioneer across the country, we perform our due diligence to find machines that really can be returned to their former glory. Sadly, not all machines are worthy of the T.L.C. we offer. Some would require too many parts, scarce parts, or simply too much time to repair. Before Best Packaging chooses to purchase machinery, it receives a top to bottom inspection.
The Best Packaging Acquisitions Team has a robust pre-evaluation that we put machinery through prior to purchase. It receives a compatibility screening, via the model and serial number, to ensure that parts will be available, not only for the refurbishment process, but for the future end user as well! Then, if possible, a seasoned technician will perform an evaluation onsite, at the previous owner’s location. Our onsite evaluation consists of two parts, 1) a comprehensive visual inspection process; then 2) a thorough performance test. Barring any glaring issues such as requiring too many parts to get back to optimal operation status, or requiring too much time to refurbish, the machinery receives the “green light.”
Once a piece of equipment arrives at our facility, one of our service technicians conducts a thorough condition audit. The Service Technician goes over the machine with a fine-toothed comb to assess all the high-use wear components as well as any componentry key to the machine’s essential functions. Stretch wrappers, for example, have rubber-coated gripping components, like the tread on your tires. Much like your tires, these will need replacing after continued use. That’s why we perform a complete rebuild of the pre-stretch carriage for every stretch wrapper refurbished. In keeping with our car metaphor, dents and dings may not be critical to “the drive” but our technicians do their best to buff them out whenever possible.
From that audit, a complete parts list is inventoried and ordered. Often, the most time-consuming part of the refurbishment process is finding the parts and waiting for them to arrive. While that is in process, years of dust, grease and mysterious goo(?) gets scrubbed away, even peeling back layers of paint when necessary. It’s truly amazing how a thorough cleaning can transform even the most gently used packaging equipment, but our process doesn’t end there.
Once parts arrive, the true fun happens. Our Service Technician(s) then execute all repairs and replacements, bringing the machine back to like-new functional condition. Once the machine’s function is restored, we address any final cosmetic issues. While amateurs carelessly slather house paint without even a primer underneath (yes, we’ve seen it), we work diligently to match the manufacturer’s original paint colors, reinforcing the like-new look.
Before we call each machinery makeover complete, we test it to confirm optimal function. A quality assurance video is emailed to the customer. Upon their approval, the unit gets packaged and palletized for shipment.
Due to the quality of our work, we have many return customers. Some customers even purchase used equipment they encounter with the intention of contracting our team for refurbishment. View our current fleet of certified refurbished equipment, or Contact Us to learn more.
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