King’s Lynn-based Southgate Global publishes White Paper aimed at helping businesses cut costs

A Lynn-based company has launched a White Paper aimed at helping businesses cut costs and reduce their carbon footprint.

Southgate Global, which specialises in packaging equipment, consumables, and servicing for operational logistics and fulfillment, has outlined a series of proposals.

These include the benefits of repairing instead of replacing key packing equipment such as trolleys, carts, WAT machines, strapping and wrapping equipment.

The paper comes amid rising costs and uncertainty for businesses in the UK this year.

Last year, Southgate bosses say the company repaired more than 200,000 carts and trolleys that would otherwise have been written off, helping its customers extend the life of their equipment.

Its repair-first maintenance programme also created £40million of capital expenditure (CAPEX) savings in a single year for one customer.

The paper sets out seven key benefits of repairing equipment and machinery, a checklist process for organisations to use, and provides a calculator to enable businesses to work out when repairing is the most cost-effective option over replacement.

Titled ‘Repair or Replace? A Southgate Global White Paper on the ESG and CAPEX Advantages of Extending Equipment Life’, it focuses on helping organisations identify when to repair or replace damaged parts and machinery, as well as encouraging them to think more broadly about the type of equipment that can be efficiently repaired.

John Maher, head of fulfilment servicing at Southgate Global, said: “Carts and trolleys, indeed any manual handling equipment, are integral to every warehouse operation no matter the sector.

“But they’re often perceived as low value and as a result, are frequently replaced at the first sign of wear.

“There is a danger when taking this approach. Often the financial cumulative cost of replacements is not factored in.

“For example, replacing equipment incurs not only the capital cost of new assets but also additional expenses related to transportation, downtime and integration.

“Repairing damaged trolleys, either brakes, wheels or general servicing, is far more cost-effective than purchasing a whole new unit. We proved this to ourselves and our customers time and time again in all our calculations.

“With more than 40 expert technicians maintaining and repairing over 5,000 items of packing and material handling equipment each week across the UK and Europe we’re in a strong position to know.”

Southgate Global recognises that there are times when replacement may be the more economical choice long term.

Machines can deteriorate to such as point where ongoing repairs can only provide a temporary solution, leading to mounting maintenance costs.

Alongside this, older machinery often might run less efficiently, making a more energy-efficient replacement the better option long term.

In response to this, the White Paper contains a checklist of factors to consider such as cost, the lifecycle stage of the equipment, the wider impact on overall operations and speed when deciding to repair or replace.

It has also produced an industry-first equation which provides a structured approach to weighing the costs and benefits of repair versus replacement:

A: (value of extended asset life + operational continuity benefits) - total repair and maintenance cost = £Value of repair

B: value of improved efficiency and reliability – total replacement cost = £Value of replacement

If A is greater than B = repair

If B is greater than A = replace

Southgate’s team is on hand to support in accessing and analysing the necessary data to input into the equation.