Written by: Roxanne Gorham, Marketing Manager
If you’ve ever found yourself pacing the cellar, counting and recounting the dollars left sitting in your brite tanks because your canning line is down yet again, then this article is for you.
Nothing screams “panic attack” like impatiently waiting for your overpriced, overpromised equipment, replacement parts, or components to travel across the ocean arriving in, “roughly 6 to 20-million weeks.”
Sound familiar?
The Big Lie.
I came across an article a while back from a well-established publication talking about the production capabilities of a certain craft brewery. It was well-written, and overall gave a good insight to improving the packaging process.
But it was the article’s headline that really hit me. To put it plainly, it was a lie.
Ultimately, the headline was changed, but it got me thinking; what does this industry really know about their equipment and suppliers? Furthermore, what should be considered during the decision-making process when seeking out an equipment manufacturer?
Location Matters.
Slogans like, “Engineered in the USA,” or, “Assembled in America,” create a vague and misleading perception of the kind of quality you’re actually getting, and who – or where – it is coming from.
We see it all the time, the multi-million (or billion) dollar private equity firms using these statements and slogans to market second class equipment – and for good reason; breweries and beverage makers get faster service and better-quality equipment from American-based suppliers.
Locally manufactured goods can be fabricated onsite, even the same day an order is placed. Systems and components ship quickly and at a much lower price point. To state the obvious, going with locally manufactured systems and components means less down time, less wasted product, and far more convenient service and training.
What about quality? Often, foreign manufactured goods are poorly fabricated with inconsistent quality standards. Sourcing from overseas allows big equity firms to purchase components at a discounted rate to meet and maintain their ever-increasing bottom line. Most of the time, this discount does not trickle down to the customer, putting their business success over yours.
American-made systems or components go through rigorous inspections, meet strict quality standards, ship in a timely manner, and come at a far more reasonable price point to get you what you need on time and without blowing the budget.
Who Can?
Here is where I drop the mic. After researching the multitude of OEMs in the realm of can packaging equipment manufacturers, I found that there is one company that can say, “Independently-Owned, Made in America,” – and really mean it.
As one of the last (if not the only) independent, veteran-owned can packaging equipment manufacturers operating entirely in the USA, Codi Manufacturing focuses on fabricating the best-quality, built-to-last can packaging systems designed for environments that require nothing less than the highest-grade stainless steel, incredibly reliable mechanical components, and quality parts that won’t break down during your daily operations.
Their all-new, 100,000-sq ft facility in Littleton, CO features massive machines presenting state-of-the-art robotics used to fabricate and manufacture over 95% of their equipment, components, and spare parts – in-house.
With customers ranging from your local craft brewery to, yes – even Anheuser-Busch – Codi specializes in everything from depalletizers to conveyance, grippers, warmers, tunnel pasteurizers, can fillers, volumetric keg fillers, pak-tech applicators, labelers, cartoners, spare parts, and more.
Most of the industry knows Codi Manufacturing as the can filler guys, but they go far beyond filling to manufacturing the entire line of packaging equipment – from pallet to pallet – all made in the USA.
Poppin’ Tags.
As a truly independent manufacturer, Codi doesn’t need to cut through the red tape or tow the bottom line. They have held pricing since the Spring of 2022 and continue to hold those same prices in 2023. The goal? To reduce the overall cost of ownership so brewers don’t have to worry about overspending on parts just to keep their packaging equipment – and overall profit margins – performing at their highest yields.
A percentage of Codi Manufacturing’s business comes revamping used Codi lines found moving through the market. I had the pleasure of meeting a past customer that just resold their Codi can filler for nearly the same price as they purchased it three years ago. He kept repeating that it was, “just that sturdy.”
Because these systems are built to last, Codi Manufacturing chose to remotely track every machine they’ve sold from the very beginning. When a new customer calls in with questions about their recently acquired used machine, Codi can quickly and easily offer detailed insight and reports on the current condition and past care of the system.
If that’s not a good business investment, I don’t know what is.
A quick CBC plug.
If you’ve gotten this far, then I suppose you’re ready for a little marketing & sales jargon. Codi will be at the Craft Brewers Conference in booth #125. In case you missed it, CBC will be hosted in Nashville May 7th – May 10th.
Let’s pick up this conversation where we left off.
Not going? Bummer. Shoot Codi an email at sales@codimfg.com for more info.
