Analyzing a Plastic Extruder Machine Price: Beyond the Purchase Cost

1. The professionalism and stability of the sales staff: Can they understand what the buyeris saying, help clarify buyer’s needs, communicate buyer’s requirements with the company’s technicians, and propose a configuration plan. Working with a professional salesperson can help reduce time costs. Note: PLM suggests buyers make more use of video conferencing, and PLM sales staff will email a summary of the meeting on the same day, greatly improving communication efficiency. Additionally, the stability of the sales staff is crucial. Buyers often face difficulties when new sales staff take over, due to their lack of understanding of the current situation.

2. Quality costs:Any costs related to machine quality, such as the risk of producing disqualified products due to machine inadequacy or the risk of machine downtime due to malfunctions. PLM reminds everyone that the quality of the machine is not only related to the brand of components used but also closely related to the assembly proces Even if all parts are the same and the configuration is identical, new manufacturers may have problems during assembly, such as rust or impurities not being cleaned properly, causing related parts to break during operation. Therefore, it’s important to focus not only on the technical data sheet but also on the factory’s production experience.

3. Installation and commissioning costs:These are the expenses related to setting up and starting the equipment, which can vary significantly depending on the supplier’s proficiency and support. An inexperienced technician may waste three times the raw materials and take three times longer to finish commissioning than an experienced engineer. PLM’s overseas technicians have over 15 years of experience and can quickly complete equipment installation and commissioning locally (e.g., for PE pipe extrusion line usually 3 to 5 days, PET PP extrusion lines usually 3 to 5 days), enabling early production of the machinery.

4. Training costs:The cost of training your staff to operate and maintain the new machinery, which can vary based on the complexity of the machinery and the skill level of your current staff.

In order to shorten this time. PLM offers two types of training for customer operators:

1. a) On-site factory training, where PLM’s technicians with over 15 years of experience have trained operators in over 80 foreign factories, tailoring the training to the technical level ofthe operators.
2. b) Training at PLM’s factory. Free accommodation is provided, and non-Muslim personnel can dine for free at PLM’s canteen, which offers lunch and dinner on working PLM has a complete set of operation and maintenance checklists, enabling local staff to get up to speed quickly, ensuring smooth and stable machine operation.

5. After-sales service and support costs:The cost and quality of ongoing support from the supplier, including responsiveness to maintenance requests, availability of technical support, and the speed of servicing and repairs. PLM understands that machine breakdowns cause not only customer losses but also losses for PLM. Every machine is like PLM’s child; when it falls ill, PLM, as a parent, is naturally concerned. Therefore, after the machine is delivered, regardless of whether it is within the one-year warranty period, if a malfunction occurs, PLM can connect via video link within 30 minutes during working days to diagnose the issue with the customer, and also connect on non-working days. If spare parts are needed and cannot be obtained locally, PLM will ship them the same day if they are in stock. Additionally, with the customer’s consent, PLM suggests shooting a video of the machine in operation every three months for assessment. PLM also plans to visit the customer’s factory at least once a year for free machine maintenance.

6. Energy consumption and efficiency:The cost of energy needed to operate the machine, a significant operational cost, especially if the machine is less energy-efficient. PLM is committed to reducing energy consumption and helping customers save on electricity bills. PLM was the first in the production line to use permanent magnet motors, which, despite being US$2000 more expensive than ordinary motors. From the experience of a PP sheet manufacturer, they reduced the electricity cost for producing 1 ton of PP sheets by nearly US$5.7. Based on this customer’s output, this equates to an annual savings of US$17,476 in electricity costs. While many manufacturers avoid the additional US$2000 cost, because their profit will reduce US$2000 per set, ignoring completely this decision can result in over US$10,000 in annual costs for their