This post comes right on the heels of “why financing CNC machines makes sense”. And why not – the types of machines are similar in many respects (and, depending on who you are talking to, a “CNC machine” and a “machine tool” might be the exact same thing.)
For purposes of our discussion, let’s assume “machine tool” in the traditional sense – a machine that that bends, shapes, cuts, or bores other material, usually metal. Think of a lathe, shear, press, drill press, punch, etc. Basically, a machine that helps make things. And financing machine tools is important, particularly financing used machine tools.
To understand why, come back with me about 30 years… See, my father had an iron shop when I was a kid (**note – I may have mentioned this in the past, but when anyone says “my father had an iron shop”, you can be sure that person’s childhood was filled with hard, dirty work. Just sayin’.)
We had some huge, scary machines that cut, bent, and shaped metal. One machine we called an “Ironworker”. It was a large flywheel-based machine that cut iron bars on one end, and punched holes in steel plates on the other. It was NOT the type of machine a kid should be running, but it was also the late 80’s. We rode to the iron shop in the back of a pickup, and if we were lucky enough to ride inside, we breathed in the 1980’s secondhand smoke. It was an innocent time, but I digress.
This machine, which was used every single day, was made in the 1960’s. My father sold the shop in the late 90’s, and I am certain that very machine is in a small fabricating shop somewhere right now, still cutting steel bars and punching holes. These machines were fairly simple in design – a motor turned the flywheel, which geared the machine to do whatever was needed. We had a similarly aged press (which bent steel up to a 90 degree angle), a shear (which cut steel plates and sheets) and more.
My point being, these machines are too useful, and too well made, to throw away. Yes, larger manufacturers have gone all CNC and assembly line for these things. But used machine tool financing is still a needed service for many smaller fabricating and manufacturing shops.
And even new stuff that’s still hand operated is viable. Tell the bank you want to finance a DI-Acro hand operated bending machine (look it up), and they’ll probably look at you funny. But an equipment financing company will not only know what it is, they might even have a blogger working there who used one as a kid!
And that’s why financing machine tools (or used machine tool financing) with an equipment financing company makes sense.