Most manufacturing companies constantly strive to improve efficiency and reduce costs. The ultimate objective is to improve the bottom line number.
In the context of adhesives, companies often recognise the potential for bulk packaging to help improve efficiency and cut costs. So, if bulk adhesives are cheaper and more efficient than single-use cartridges, it's a no-brainer. Right?
Maybe you should. But, perhaps you shouldn't. It's not that clear-cut.
Here at Forgeway, we help manufacturers with their adhesive challenges. The companies we work with are continuously improving their processes and looking to reduce spend.
We understand the situations where bulk adhesives can be a significant benefit to companies. We also understand where bulk adhesives will not make a big enough difference to justify the cost and effort required.
In this article, we will explain whether bulk adhesives really help improve efficiency and reduce costs. Then we will analyse the challenges that our customers have experienced with bulk adhesives.
By the end of the article, you will understand whether bulk adhesives will benefit your efficiency, costs, and ultimately your bottom line.
To help explain what the term Bulk Adhesive is, we should explain what it isn't. Bulk adhesives are not the small, single-use cartridges most adhesives will come in. Bulk adhesives are not placed into a handheld applicator for the operator to apply manually.
Bulk adhesives typically come in larger pails or barrels to be placed into a dispensing machine. This will then allow a human or robot to apply the adhesive onto the materials.
Bulk adhesives can come in 5kg pails up to 200kg barrels depending on user preference. You can get bulk options for all types of adhesives. From one-component (1K) adhesives, to two-component (2K) variations.
From Epoxy adhesives to Hybrid Polymer products, bulk is an option for all manufacturers who are looking to improve efficiency and cut costs.
But can switching to bulk really help you achieve those objectives? Let's discuss...
The short answer is YES. Using bulk adhesives can improve production efficiency. The dispensing equipment required for bulk will typically offer much greater control and faster application than operators applying the product manually.
This is where the BUT comes in. And it's a significant but...
Bulk adhesive application won't always provide better efficiency in manufacturing. You might experience an increase in efficiency in the adhesive process by switching to bulk. That increase in efficiency might even be a significant improvement from before.
But will that improvement actually improve your overall throughput?
We have seen several examples where companies spend significant amounts of time, money, and resources towards improving their adhesive process efficiency. The result? The overall throughput remains exactly the same as before.
This is because the adhesive process wasn't a constraint in their production. Whether the adhesive bonding process took 2 hours or 24, a stage (welding in this case) later in the process was ultimately the bottleneck in their production.
The Theory of Constraints approach would have highlighted that they should have spent the time, money, and resources on solving the welding stage. This would have made a significant impact on the overall throughput of their products.
Then, going forward, you may highlight the adhesive process as the bottleneck. This is when you should dedicate your efforts to improving this process.
You should first analyse your process and determine whether the bonding stage is the bottleneck you need to focus on. If it is, then investing in bulk adhesive application will definitely improve the efficiency of your production.
The other thing to remember is that going bulk typically won't provide efficiency if there isn't sufficient volume. For low-volume production and trial stages, the bulk equipment may actually be more of a hindrance than a help.
For large-volume production that is experiencing a bottleneck in its adhesive stage, going bulk will provide significant efficiency benefits.
The answer to this question is again YES. Adhesives in bulk will always cost less than adhesives in single-use cartridges. However, as with the efficiency question, there is again a caveat.
The savings you make from buying in bulk will only become significant if you put enough volume through it. And often, that volume needs to be very large to balance the books.
To put it into context, you might be able to save up to £5-10 per KG by switching to bulk packaging. Then you will need to invest around £60,000 on dispensing equipment.
If you don't use large volumes of adhesive, the CAP EX cost of the machine will be greater than the savings you gain from the bulk adhesive. To put it into numbers, if you make a £5 saving per kg of adhesive, you will have to use 12 tonnes of adhesive to make savings that will pay back the £60,000 machine.
A lot of companies don't use that volume of adhesive.
There are a few other things to bear in mind too. The cost of resources and time to set up the bulk system. Also the opportunity cost of investing that time and resource when you could have been investing in other areas.
Companies also point out the maintenance costs for the dispensing equipment.
Despite that, if you use enough volume to offset the cost of the machine, going bulk is a worthwhile investment. The cost of waste will decrease by using bulk. You won't have to deal with thousands of single-use plastic cartridges or foil packs that you cannot recycle.
You also may be able to make savings by reducing staff. Robotic bulk applicating equipment (although expensive) will not require the ongoing cost of operatives.
As you can see, there is no clear-cut answer. But if you use a significant volume of an adhesive product, it will definitely be cheaper. It will also bring significant other advantages too.
However, there is still hesitancy amongst a few stakeholders to get this project signed off. What other benefits will going bulk provide?
Firstly, you should not overlook the significant cost-saving and efficiency improvements you will gain. But a lot of other manufacturers will tell you that the other key improvement from going bulk is the consistency and control increase.
Certainly with robotic applications but even with operators using the bulk systems, the added control and consistency are very beneficial to the manufacturing process. As you will know very well, consistent quality is not an easy feat in manufacturing.
All of these are vital to high-level manufacturers who can't afford things to go wrong. Errors and quality issues can cost serious amounts of money. In some cases, they can cost lives too.
Some bulk dispensing machines are also able to add levels of traceability for when things do go wrong. They can give details about who was operating the machine and provide information about what went wrong to cause the issue.
Therefore it's important to realise that going bulk will have benefits beyond just cost and efficiency.
What challenges can using Bulk Adhesives present?
Apart from the challenges we have already discussed, going bulk can present other difficulties. As we have explained, the real benefits of going bulk will mostly benefit manufacturers who process large volumes.
However, even if you do process large volumes, you still need to be careful of a few things. The manufacturers we have spoken to about going bulk mostly say the same thing.
"Invest in quality dispensing equipment."
They have experienced the pain of trying to cut costs with machinery, only for it to come back to bite a few years down the line. With a few years of use and the usual wear and tear, the dispensing equipment is unreliable.
Constant breakdowns not only cost a lot to fix, but they also create massive bottlenecks in production. It's important to make sure the equipment is quality and you maintain it effectively.
The other point that manufacturers often raise about bulk is the wastage. Yes, going bulk will cut the waste of single-use cartridges. However, poor-quality dispensing equipment will present challenges.
Typically, we see some bulk dispensing equipment will dispense around 95% of the total material in the barrel. Let's put that into perspective.
For example, you take the adhesive in 200L bulk barrels. The material costs £15 per litre. That's £150 of material that you won't use per barrel. Of course, costs and quantities will fluctuate. But it's certainly something to keep in mind.
The other thing we have seen is material that goes past its 'Use-by' date. This often occurs when the manufacturer doesn't have enough volume to justify using bulk or the product has a very short shelf-life.
They then compensate by purchasing more barrels to meet a price barrier. These barrels expire and you can't use them. That's a significant waste.
Although you may not replicate this scenario, we have seen the situation where barrels expire more times than you would imagine. It can get costly.
Before embarking on the journey to 'Bulk', make sure that you are aware of these challenges and have plans in place to mitigate them.
Now that you understand some of the advantages and disadvantages of going bulk, it's time to make a decision. Is it the right choice for your manufacturing company?
Only you can make that decision. At Forgeway, we have helped companies decide the best route forward with their adhesive choices. We help present the facts. The company can decide.
After reading this article, you will have learned everything there is to know about going bulk. In summary, bulk is a very appealing option to companies processing large volumes of products. It can provide substantial benefits to efficiency, control, and cost-saving.
However, for lower volume production, going bulk isn't likely to bring the same return on the investment in the equipment. There are also challenges to be aware of such as the material's expiry date and machinery maintenance.
If you're still not sure what to do next, reach out to an adhesive expert. A member of our team will be able to assist with making the right choice.
Or, if you would prefer to research on your own, you can make your way to some of the machinery companies we work with. You can browse their options and see if there is something that can help you.
Grunfeld
Graco
Nordson
Dopag