Manufacturing CAPEX Payback Cheat Sheet

After watching too many brilliant plant engineers struggle to get funding for projects with obvious value (while slick PowerPoint rangers secure millions for questionable initiatives), I figured we could use a straightforward guide.

This is for:

> The controls tech who knows that PLC upgrade would solve 80% of the problem

> The maintenance leader watching parts obsolescence create mounting risk

> The plant manager fighting for modernization against "if it ain't broke" corporate mentalities

> The process engineer with a killer automation idea but no finance vocabulary

If you've ever had a project shot down because you couldn't translate shop floor sense into finance-speak, save this.

Most finance folks actually WANT to fund good projects, they just need you to speak their language.

This translates between both worlds.