Inventory, sourcing, and future spending on equipment parts are critical business factors for packaging and processing end-users, and original equipment manufacturers play a role in those factors. Research suggests that most end users stock standard and critical wear parts, and most often order them from OEMs.
That’s according to PMMI Business Intelligence’s “Aftermarket Parts & Services,” a report that explores how the aftermarket space is growing, what end users expect and need most from their aftermarket partners, what new technologies are emerging, and what actionable recommendations OEMs and their suppliers can consider to improve their aftermarket services. The report’s findings are based on the opinions gathered from 132 industry participants of end users (61% CPGs and CMs/CPs) and OEMs (39%).
The business intelligence team found that 62% of end users prefer to keep an inventory of standard wear parts in house with 41% sourced from OEMs, a contrast to 30% distributor sourcing and 28% third-party supplier sourcing.
“We're more conservative with what we carry in our parts cage. We had a couple [of] situations where rollers failed and our packaging line was down for 24 hours, and that was pretty expensive,” said a plant engineer at a canned foods company.
As for critical wear parts, 72% of end-users prefer to keep an inventory in house with 77% sourced from OEMS. Still, balancing inventory with other part alternatives is important.
“We can’t backstock everything, so it’s a combination of keeping highmortality critical parts, buying used or 3D printed, and retrofitting when possible. We have to balance parts inventory with timing around a machine upgrade. We can't sit on all that backstock,” said a senior project engineering manager at a fresh and canned foods company.
SOURCE: PMMI Business Intelligence: 2025 Aftermarket Parts & Services
For more insights from PMMI’s Business Intelligence team, find reports, including “2024 Data Acquisition, Sharing and Utilization” and “2025 Beverage Industry Packaging Trends” at pmmi.org/business-intelligence.
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