A rotary vacuum chamber system is an ideal option to automate and accelerate your food packaging processes.

But as these machines age, it’s typical to see efficiency decrease while the cost of maintenance increases. Even the most well-maintained rotaries have an expected lifespan of about 15 years—which means any year after is on borrowed time.

Your rotary vacuum chamber system may be showing its age. Here are five of the most common signs that it could be time to upgrade.

1. Your leaker rate is going up.

Rework is expensive, and when leaker rates go up, so does your rework rate. As equipment gets older—especially older than 15 years—we see leaker rates start to increase. 

If you notice an increase in leakers off your rotary line, even after service, it may be time to invest in new equipment. Reducing rework has a substantial ROI when you consider the materials, labor, and overtime rework takes now. 

If you were able to reduce your rework rate by 10%, how much could you save? 

2. Your spare parts and machine maintenance costs are increasing year over year. 

Equipment naturally becomes less efficient over time as parts wear out and technology ages.  

We’ve seen the need to replace consumable spare parts become more frequent with older rotary vacuum chambers. This often leads to a gradual, steady increase in maintenance costs. 

Another consideration is your overall maintenance budget for equipment. Are you starting to see more critical parts fail, forcing you to order parts unexpectedly? Are you scheduling more service appointments with technicians? All of these can drive up your annual spend. 

Considering these costs compared to the cost of a new rotary vacuum system, and the typically lower annual maintenance costs of new machinery, can help you figure out how long it will take to see a return on investment from new equipment. 

3. Your rotary downtime is increasing. 

Downtime has a significant impact on productivity and costs. As equipment ages, the risk of downtime goes up. 

If you notice more instances of downtime or downtime caused by more critical failures, it’s time to consider the better reliability you can see with new equipment. More reliable equipment has less downtime and disruption. It can also save on spare parts costs and overtime. 

4. You’re not able to take advantage of proactive maintenance plans.

A proactive maintenance plan is one of the best strategies to avoid unexpected downtime, spare parts costs, and overtime.  

There is a lot of potential for cost savings with proactive maintenance plans. Take as an example one success story for a customer who invested in our SEE™ Advanced Maintenance Program (AMP) for its CRYOVAC® rotary equipment.  

Worn parts replacement was included in the equipment's annual service plan. The company saw an average 10% reduction in its package rework rate after replacing worn parts, which adds up to a lot of saved materials and labor. 

Many rotaries past a certain age are not eligible for proactive or annual maintenance plans, but newer equipment may come with that service option. If you’re interested in taking advantage of plans like this, it’s worthwhile to explore new rotary options. 

5. You’re not able to connect or integrate data in your packaging line.

Connected data and machinery is one strategy that food processers use to improve their operations.  

For lines that use rotary equipment, this often includes seamless communication from the rotary to other machines on the line, like shrink tunnels. 

If you want to take advantage of cloud connectivity and full-line integration, and your rotary is greater than 20 years old, it’s likely you need new equipment with built-in controls. 

In addition to machine integration, newer rotaries may also be equipped with features like: 

Real-time monitoring, which helps identify issues early to reduce downtime 

Data collection to support operational improvements and data-based decision making 

Centralized dashboards for performance monitoring and data analysis

Is Your Rotary Vacuum Chamber Saying It’s Time to Upgrade? 

There’s no denying that rotary equipment is an investment. Not investing in your equipment comes with a cost, too. 

If you’ve noticed any of the signs above, it may be time to upgrade your rotary. Replacing aging equipment can improve efficiency and maintenance costs, limit downtime, improve connectivity, and make proactive maintenance programs available to you.