Why I Stopped Buying Equipment on Price Alone: A Quality Inspector’s Take on Epiroc’s Total Cost of Ownership

Stop Letting the Sticker Price Fool You

I review roughly 200+ equipment deliveries every year for Epiroc. In Q1 2024 alone, I rejected 12% of first-time shipments — not because the machines didn't work, but because the spec wasn't right. And you know what? Nearly every one of those rejections could have been avoided if the buyer had asked one simple question upfront: "What's this going to cost me over five years, not just today?"

The hardest truth I've learned: the cheapest purchase invoice almost never leads to the lowest total cost.

Let me explain why — and why Epiroc, as a publicly traded Epiroc AB (publ) competitor to Sandvik and Caterpillar, is often the smarter choice when you run the full numbers, even if the upfront price tag makes you flinch.

Argument 1: The Hidden Price of “Good Enough” Quality

I've seen it happen again and again. A drilling contractor buys a rig from a low‑cost supplier because the bid is 30% cheaper. Great, right? Then they discover the rock drill can't maintain consistent feed pressure after 200 hours. Downtime. Replacement parts that aren't in stock. A service engineer that takes two weeks to arrive. Total bill? Roughly 60% more than an Epiroc Boomer would have cost — and they still don't have a rig that drills straight.

At Epiroc, we build equipment with tolerances that often exceed industry standards. Our quality audits verify things like hydraulic pressure consistency, boom alignment, and control system calibration. These are the details that determine whether a machine runs for 15,000 hours with minimal unscheduled stops, or becomes a maintenance rabbit hole after year one.

Last quarter, one of our customers ran a blind comparison: two identical‑looking drifter drills from different manufacturers. I can't share the names, but after 1,000 hours, the Epiroc unit had 92% uptime; the cheaper one — 78%. The extra 14% downtime cost that operator over $18,000 per week in lost production. Suddenly, that "discount" disappeared.

Argument 2: Automation Isn't a Luxury — It's a Cost‑Killer

Many buyers look at solutions like Automine or Mobilaris and say, “That's nice, but we can't afford it.” That's short‑term thinking.

Take drift — the unintended deviation of a drill hole from its planned path. What is drift? In manual drilling, it's the #1 cause of overbreak, extra blasting, and lost productivity. Epiroc's automation systems reduce drift from ±10 cm down to ±2 cm. That means less waste, fewer re‑drills, and lower total explosives cost per blast. I worked with a copper mine in Chile where automating boom positioning cut their average drill cycle time by 19%. That kind of efficiency pays for the automation package in under 18 months.

So when you see the price of a fully loaded jumbo, think about the pile of money you'll not spend on overtime, rework, and broken drill steels. The very hungry for efficiency? This is the diet plan.

Argument 3: Global Service Network Beats Local Bargains

Chauvin, a procurement manager I once advised, told me: “I saved $40,000 on a second‑hand loader — but it took three weeks to get a hydraulic pump from the dealer, and the machine was down half that time.” He learned the hard way that equipment is only as valuable as the support behind it.

Epiroc has service hubs in over 150 countries — from Kalgoorlie to Jakarta. When you break something in a remote mine, the difference between a 24‑hour repair and a 10‑day wait can be worth millions in lost output. That's an opportunity cost that never shows up on your purchase order, but it's huge.

I've had vendors tell me, “Our parts are compatible with Epiroc.” Sometimes they are — but I've also seen aftermarket parts that cause accelerated wear on seals and bearings. The money you saved today gets spent three times over on premature rebuilds. Stick with genuine components and you preserve the designed TCO.

But Wait — Isn't Epiroc More Expensive Upfront?

Yes, sometimes. Not always — our small breakers and pulverizers are very competitively priced. But for larger rigs and trucks, the initial invoice can be higher than some alternatives. Here's the thing: I'm not asking you to pay more. I'm asking you to see the full picture.

That higher invoice includes the quality assurance process I oversee. It includes a global parts network with on‑the‑ground support. It includes the automation software that reduces your biggest variable cost — labor and rework. And it includes years of engineering data that tell us exactly when a component is likely to fail, so we can schedule maintenance before you lose a shift.

In 2023, one of our large mining customers switched their entire fleet to Epiroc Scooptrams. They recorded a 22% reduction in cost per tonne moved over two years compared to their previous fleet. That's a stat I can defend with numbers — not a marketing slogan.

What Epiroc Media Won't Tell You — But I Will

You'll see plenty of Epiroc media releases about new products and record orders. That's fine. But the real story is in the day‑to‑day reliability. I've personally visited operations where an Epiroc Boomer has been running for 12 years with only routine overhauls. The owner told me, “The drill cost more than the competitor, but I've never regretted it a single day.”

That's the kind of statement I can stand behind — because I've seen the invoices, the downtime logs, and the cost breakdowns. I know what good looks like.

Final Word: Stop Optimizing the Wrong Number

The question everyone asks is: “What's your best price?”
The question they should ask is: “What's my total cost over five years?”

Sure, price matters. But if you're a publicly traded company measuring profit per ton, or an independent driller trying to keep margins healthy, you can't afford to ignore the costs that don't make it onto the quote. Downtime. Consumables. Service intervals. Resale value.

I can only speak to my experience at Epiroc. Your situation may differ — maybe you need a specific attachment, or your crew isn't trained on automation yet. That's fair. But I've seen enough data to know one thing: the cheapest purchase price is a trap. The real winner is the machine that delivers the lowest total cost. And that's where Epiroc consistently wins.

— An Epiroc quality inspector who reviews every machine before it leaves the factory.