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As the calendar year comes to a close, so do many fiscal budgets. It’s a time of year when engineers and managers alike reassess their needs and often try to use what they may have leftover to help pad the next year’s budget planning.
According to a poll we recently ran during a webinar with Laser Focus World, 46% of engineers consider budget challenges to be a major obstacle distracting them from their primary focus – so, we understand that maximizing budgets can be a real concern. We believe that a great way to stretch your capex budget is by choosing pre-owned, factory-refurbished equipment. You can take advantage of significant savings while procuring a consistent and repeatable pre-configured system.
What do you need to look at first when selecting pre-owned?
- Process Requirements: Confirm that the equipment meets your requirements. When buying pre-owned, you don’t have as much flexibility to configure to your specifications. Be sure to check any published product data, and make sure the system you are considering will meet your specific needs.
- Cost: This is a major upside of a pre-owned system – you’re going to save money over a new, custom solution and your budget will thank you.
- Lead Time: Since the system is already built, your lead times are typically short. You will receive the system and be up and running in production faster.
Service Makes a Difference
You need to know that you’re choosing a thin film deposition equipment supplier you can trust, whose original equipment meets your requirements. When purchasing pre-owned, service also becomes a major factor. We’ve heard from our customers that their top two concerns when selecting a new supplier are quick response times and personalized support.
You need a service and support team that stands behind the quality of their work and that acts as a partner, providing guidance and resources as needed. This isn’t just a sale; it’s an investment in your company and your supplier should realize that and treat it as such.
Now that you’ve found the right supplier, you can confidently move ahead with a purchase that makes the best possible use your budget – and you should even have some money left to stock up on the consumable and spare parts that you’ll need!