Clearview National March 2016 - Issue 172 | Page 114

MACHINERY

Working around obsolescence
The pace of technology means that machines - or parts of them - regularly
become obsolete. Steve Haines, from Norfolk-based machinery company
Stuga, talks about obsolescence and machinery refurbishment.
»»“A WELL-KNOWN FABRICATOR IN
the north east of England sadly went into
administration recently and closed down.
Its equipment was sold by online auction as
has now become the norm and whilst most
of it sold quite well the prices were generally
speaking not that high with the exception
of the two Stuga machines - and one other.
These two machines were not the latest or
most sought after technology but nonetheless
both fetched amazingly high prices. Some
people expressed surprise at the prices a Stuga
Autocut saw center and Ecoline prepping
center fetched but at Stuga no-one was
surprised. Stuga machines normally fetch
excellent values on the second-hand market
and the main reasons are very simple.

Stuga machine comes in that is anything more
than, say, two years old it is fully refurbished
to as near to the latest specification as possible.
This will often create an almost new version
that is very close to the same or similar
machine when it was new. A classic example
is the 76 Flowlines that were built before the
machine was recreated as the ZX3. More than
20 of these old Flowlines dating around the
early 2000 to 2002 period have been totally
rebuilt to the latest ZX3 upgrade specification.
These are back in the market place producing
windows with a higher output than when
they were new and with many excellent design
updates engineered into them.
“Potential customers often call Stuga
seeking to purchase machines that have
been on the market for very many years and
they may be looking for new or refurbished
ones but they are satisfied that whatever
they purchase it will be able to be updated,
improved and kept in service for many more
years. They also know they can rely on Stuga
back-up that ensures peace of mind on a daily
basis.

‘nearly every machine
the company has ever
made is operational in
the market today’
“Stuga is not only the manufacturer rather
than a dealer but is also a British manufacturer
based here in this country with all the
benefits that brings. The Stuga brand has
been produced in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk,
since 1986 and very nearly every machine the
company has ever made is operational in the
market today. There are numerous machines
supplied by dealers that have come from other
parts of the world - mainly Europe - that
were long ago scrapped, sometimes because
they were worn out and sometimes because
of technology or obsolescence. This doesn’t
really happen to a Stuga because the company
will always refurbish any worn out machine
to make it as good as new and obsolescence is
designed out on an ongoing basis.
“The fast pace of modern technological
change creates a situation whereby machines
or parts of them regularly become obsolete
and this can be a major headache for the
manufacturer. Stuga often gets no notice
of components becoming unavailable and
sometimes it is only at time of order this

114 » MAR 2016 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M

‘They also knew they could call on Stuga expertise’
comes to light. When it happens the company
has to very quickly design a ‘work-around.’
These work- arounds then have to form part
of a long term design update, either just as
they are or to be improved upon later. In
some cases these design changes can be major,
especially if they require new software to
be written. Stuga has always had in-house
design staff to work on these complications
and a considerable degree of success has been
achieved. Stuga’s constant involvement in
these evolutionary design changes sometimes
leads to complete new designs or major
improvements on old ones.
“Stuga often purchases back its own
machines either as part-exchange or simply
because they have become surplus to
requirement for a multitude of reasons such
as insolvency or stopping fabrication. When a

“To return to those machines at the recent
auction the purchasers were prepared to pay a
lot of money for quite old Stugas sound in the
knowledge that they could get the parts, have
the machines serviced and get the benefits of
the most recent updates and enhancements
that will have been introduced on an ongoing
basis. They also knew they could call on
Stuga expertise to move the machines and
re-commission them as Stuga has a range of
options available for re-siting their machines
from a simple install right through to a full
decommissioning, move and recommission
package.”
For further infor