Something to Spare

by

Features

Whether new or obsolete tobacco machinery, they are all subject to considerable wear and tear. Spare part suppliers thus provide a crucial – indeed indispensable - service to keep lines running and prevent expensive production downtimes.

By Thomas Schmid

Nobody in their right mind would discard a car and purchase a brand-new one just because of a shot gadget, blown tire, cracked rear mirror, or scuffed seat upholstery. A sensible car owner simply replaces the damaged or worn parts. That analogy also translates to the manufacturing industry; in our case the tobacco sector.

Primary and secondary processing machinery such as tobacco cutters, sorters, or cigarette and filter makers consists of a myriad of fixed or moving parts that regularly wear out due to manual stresses and may eventually malfunction. Obsolete machines that are no longer assembled by their respective manufacturers can experience an even higher degree of wear and tear due to years of continuous operation. While replacement parts can be a little harder to come by for these, there are always ways to eventually source them.

And then there is, of course, the aspect of upgrading or overhauling older machinery to a better standard in order to ensure a more efficient workflow. This is where spare part suppliers deliver a valuable service. They can provide (often at short lead times) almost any part imaginable, whether new, second-hand, branded or generic, obsolete or current. Some of them are highly specialized, dealing only in a certain group of spares or wearables, like British outfit Arkote [see side box], which offers cutting blades. Others provide a host of value-added services, such as refurbishing entire production lines with the latest spares, saving factory owners a tremendous amount of investment.

HSI and the legacy of MQM

Germany-based HSI Tobacco Service & Spare-Parts GmbH, a member of Swiss investment group Minergia Int AG, is such an outfit, trading not only in spare parts for the most recognizable tobacco machinery brands around but also selling fully refurbished second-hand machines and providing all-around overhaul services for outdated ones. HSI basically emerged in 2009 out of the liquidation of erstwhile highly reputable spare parts supplier MQM. That latter company had been in the spare parts business for more than 25 years, in the process accumulating a huge stock of spares for all kinds of tobacco machinery, both primary and secondary, as well as building up a massive customer base.

When it eventually folded, HSI – with Swiss financial backing – bought out its complete assets, including the enormous assortment of spare parts and a vast library of manuals, handbooks, drawings, blueprints, and other technical documentation. In that context, HSI, in the words of operations manager Guido Strahmann, sees itself as “the successor of MQM”, or, one might say, the keeper of the MQM legacy.

Some 180,000 spares to boost

Together with MQM’s spare parts warehouse, HSI also inherited the extensive client base, which it continues to nurse and develop. “Ex-MQM customers are to this day contacting us not only for parts but also to act as consultants for special tobacco product projects using obsolete machinery,” Strahmann says. “Due to our stock of more than 180,000 parts that we took over from MQM, obsolete machinery is actually our core business and it’s where our expertise lies.”

As such, HSI is particularly specialized in spare parts for Molins machinery like the Mk.8, Mk.9, and HLP. “These machines are preferably used in the cigar and cigarillo industry,” explains Strahmann, adding that many of the key manufacturers are situated in regional countries like Germany, Switzerland, and the Benelux states. “We are well known in that industry circle as experts for these machine types, for example when parts are needed to facilitate [cigar/cigarillo] format changes.”

New or refurbished, it doesn’t matter

Whether customers require new or second-hand spares (both of which HSI offers) is “mainly a matter or cost, availability, and delivery time”, according to Strahmann, and the company would make recommendations as needed. For instance, if a part is required very urgently, HSI may opt to supply a used but fully overhauled one that in fact is “as good as new”. Brand new original parts, Strahmann admits, may not always be in stock and can have “extremely long lead times” depending on the machine type. Differences in durability and reliability between refurbished and new parts also are possible but are generally negligible. “But what priority is given – new or refurbished - is always determined by the customer and depends on the individual part and machine unit,” adds Strahmann. In cases where an original part is ordered but not actually in stock, Strahmann asserts that his company “will have at least a technical drawing available” that would allow the company to build the part from scratch in its fully-equipped in-house workshop, emulating the original in every detail.

Bespoke reproductions

If the customer so desires, HSI can also try sourcing it in the company’s worldwide network of business partners, provided the client is willing to accept the potentially extended lead time. And if such a search fails, HSI’s engineering team still can resort to reproducing it “at a reasonable price,” basically creating a generic part instead of the branded original. While simpler re-engineered parts “might” turn out to be somewhat cheaper than their originals sourced elsewhere, complex reproduced parts are generally not due to their complicated and resource-heavy manufacturing.

“Quality has its price,” Strahmann insists. But even what is in stock is not going to last forever. “The spares we inherited [from MQM] are not unlimited, of course,” Strahmann cautions, but reiterates that “we still can recreate them at any time, as we have technical drawings of every single part in our library.”

And yes, there even are certain specialized parts that at present only and exclusively HSI is able to supply: “The Flex Kit for flexible rod lengths for [Hauni’s] MAX Filter Assembler would be a case in point,” Strahmann discloses.

Value-added services

However, for HSI it’s not just all a matter of selling or re-engineering spare parts. Tied in with its core business, the company also offers a host of value-added services. These would include complimentary handling of all customs documentation when a shipment is destined for a customer outside the EU.

Furthermore, the company provides individual installation instructions when needed by the customer, for example, relevant excerpts and diagrams copied from the respective technical handbooks and manuals. Returns are or course accepted for all and any spare parts, with no questions asked and refunds promptly issued.

“But naturally only if the unit is returned undamaged,” said Strahmann, adding that his company is maintaining “rather intensive and successful business relationships” with both Spikker Specials B.V. and Colin Mear Engineering Ltd., two of the other main players introduced in the spare parts arena (see our side boxes).

Yet providing spare parts, technical services, and hands-on technical expertise for obsolete machines alone is not going to do it for HIS in the long run. The company is already working on establishing an additional business section for new machinery, of course, complete with the “Full Monty” of spare part stocks. The emphasis is going to be on tax stampers, pack wrappers, and overwrappers, Strahmann divulges. And he lets Tobacco Asia in on another grapevine secret:

“As MQM, the predecessor of HSI, is still very well known in the tobacco industry, we’re in the process of reviving this company as part of Minergia Int AG.”

Spikker Specials: Plenty Specials from the Netherlands

Dutch company Spikker Specials B.V. was founded in 1962 and today manufactures spare parts for a broad range of business sectors, including the food, medical, and tobacco industries. From the outset, the company put great emphasis on specialization, producing critical spare and wear parts using the very best materials available worldwide. This approach laid the foundation of Spikker Specials’ philosophy “No mass production, continuous innovation, absolute top quality.” It is, therefore, no wonder that the firm has over the years earned a well-deserved and strong reputation as a developer, manufacturer, and overhauler of machine spares and wearables.

Cutting machines for the tobacco industry and their associated wear and tear processes have become one of Spikker Specials’ main areas of engineering expertise. The firm not only develops and manufactures new spare and wear parts but also carries out overhauls, re-grindings, and repairs. The long-term financial benefits for customers like longer tool life and sustained efficiency are obvious. But regardless which spare parts are needed, the company assures customers not only of their top product quality but also speedy filling of all orders. In addition to its in-house-manufactured parts, the outfit also stocks ample amounts of popular spare parts from some of the most renowned machinery brands worldwide.

Colin Mear Engineering: Purveyor to the World’s Largest Cigarette Producers

Since its founding in 1983, British company Colin Mear Engineering Limited (CME) has garnered a proven track record in the delivery of high-quality bespoke and generic packaging equipment and spare parts that ensure operational reliability and efficiency for our customers. The company has worked closely with the world’s largest cigarette producers for over three decades, regularly solving technical and operational problems cost-effectively, including providing a range of machines to produce niche or novel pack formats.

But of course, CME also manufactures, sources, and supplies a wide range of spare parts for secondary tobacco machinery from renowned manufacturers such as Molins, Hauni, GD, Focke, Sasib, and Marden Edwards, with currently over 60,000 items in stock. In addition, CME offers extensive customer support through installation, technical and training services. The outfit’s library of over 250,000 technical drawings also allows it to engineer in-house any parts that may not be in stock. And by maintaining a broad global network with other suppliers such as, for example, Germany’s HSI, CME usually also succeeds in sourcing the most “exotic” spares that are required.