Astec Corporation Equipment Procurement Checklist: A Cost Controller's Guide to Avoiding Hidden Costs

If you're evaluating an asphalt plant, crusher, or screening plant, this checklist is for you. It's the process I use before I recommend any capital purchase, and it has nothing to do with brochures or brand loyalty.

I'm a procurement manager for a mid-sized construction materials company. I've tracked roughly $6.3 million in equipment and parts invoices over six years, negotiated with more vendors than I can count, and built a cost-tracking spreadsheet that my finance team jokes should be a separate department. I've learned the hard way that the lowest quote is rarely the lowest cost.

Before we go further, let's clear up one thing. Astec Corporation is the heavy-equipment company—mining equipment, asphalt plants, crushers, screens, and related industrial machinery. 'Astec games' is a different search. So are 'house cast,' 'jones jr,' and 'what is simparica.' If those brought you here, no harm done. This article is about the procurement side of Astec Corporation equipment, and the steps below should work whether you're buying new or used, from a manufacturer or a dealer.

Use this checklist when...

Use this checklist when you're close to making a decision on any major equipment purchase—especially if it's your first time buying a specific category. It assumes you already know what production capacity you need. If you don't, that's step zero: get your tonnage, feed material, moisture, and operating hours in writing before you talk to any supplier.

There are five steps. I've listed them in the order I do them. Skip the first one and the rest will be easier to skip too.

Step 1: Model the total cost of ownership, not the purchase price

From the outside, comparing equipment quotes looks like comparing prices. The reality is that no two quotes include the same items. One supplier may quote the machine with standard guards, a hydraulic breaker setup, and freight. Another may leave those out because you didn't ask. Both look similar until you build the TCO model (i.e., a spreadsheet that adds every cost the machine will create over three years).

Here's what I put in the spreadsheet:

• Base price
• Freight and rigging to site
• Foundation, electrical, ventilation, or dust collection work
• Commissioning and first calibration
• Spare wear parts for the first year
• Training for operators and maintenance crew
• Software subscriptions, data licensing, and remote access fees
• Expected maintenance intervals based on your running hours
• Downtime cost per day and a realistic reliability assumption

In 2024, I compared two crusher quotes. One was $318,000. The other was $294,000. The cheaper one didn't include the remote monitoring module, the spare screen section, or the conveyor guards our site safety policy required. Once I added those, it came to $339,000. That's a 13% difference hidden in the detail.

Step 2: Verify parts availability and lead times before you sign

A machine is not an asset. It's a deferred maintenance decision. The best machine you can buy will cost you money every day it waits for a part.

• Ask for lead times on the 20 most common wear parts.
• Check whether the supplier has in-house casting and machining capability, or whether parts are brokered from another manufacturer.
• Find out if local dealers stock critical components.
• Ask whether the wear parts are interchangeable with industry-standard screen media or crusher jaws.

Suppliers with in-house cast and fabrication often have shorter lead times for structural parts. Not always, but it's worth asking.

Mark Jones Jr., a plant manager I've worked with for years, learned this with screen decks. The original deck price was reasonable, but the replacement screen panels were proprietary. Only one dealer stocked them, they cost 40% more than comparable industry-standard media, and lead times stretched to six weeks. Over two years, that wiped out the savings from choosing that deck.

Step 3: Check service response and training, not just warranty months

Warranty months are easy numbers. They don't tell you how fast someone will show up when the plant goes down.

• How many service technicians are in your region?
• What is the target response time for a critical breakdown?
• Is remote diagnostics included, or is that an add-on?
• Does the quote include commissioning and operator training?
• Is there an after-hours number that actually reaches a person?

I still kick myself for signing a service agreement without checking the response-time clause once. We had a burner controller fail in the middle of paving season. The service invoice was modest, but we waited 11 days for a technician. Lost production cost us far more than the repair did. If I'd checked the clause, I would have paid for a faster service tier.

Step 4: Check how the equipment fits your operation and data systems

The industry is evolving. What was best practice in 2020 may not apply in 2025. But the fundamentals—site flow, utilities, and operating philosophy—haven't changed. The execution has transformed.

• Can the new crusher or screen match your existing motor mount pattern, electrical phasing, and control system?
• Does the asphalt plant control software provide CSV export or an API for your ERP?
• Can the supplier provide a gradation curve tested using ASTM C136 or a comparable aggregate standard?
• If you're installing asphalt production equipment, have you confirmed local air quality permit requirements?
• Can you pull telemetry on bearing temperatures, vibration, and screen amplitude remotely?

Five years ago, I rarely asked about software. Now I ask before I ask about price. The old buying process was brochure-heavy. The current one should be data-heavy.

Step 5: Put performance expectations in writing

Every supplier will talk about throughput. The ones that stand behind it will also write it into a performance schedule.

• Define capacity in tons per hour, at a specific feed size, moisture level, and operating schedule.
• Ask for factory test data and at least two reference plants operating under similar conditions.
• Specify the commissioning procedure and who signs off on final acceptance.
• Decide how you'll handle outcomes if the machine doesn't meet the agreed numbers. That doesn't mean being hostile. It means having a clear remedy.

I've seen more than one procurement team skip this step because they didn't want to offend the supplier. Then they spent two years arguing about what 'rated capacity' meant.

Common mistakes that eat your budget

The checklist above catches most problems. These four mistakes are the ones I still see from procurement teams that should know better.

• Comparing purchase prices instead of three-year total cost of ownership.
• Ignoring electrical installation and power draw. An extra 50 horsepower doesn't sound expensive until you pay for the transformer and the monthly demand charge.
• Assuming lead times are calendar days. One supplier promised '30 days' and meant 30 business days—that's six weeks.
• Not documenting verbal promises. If the salesperson says the screen media will fit, ask them to put it in the quote.

The surprise wasn't the price difference. It was how much hidden value came with the higher-priced option—training, remote diagnostics, and wear parts already included.

A final thought

The fundamentals of buying heavy equipment haven't changed: know your costs, verify your assumptions, and keep a paper trail. What's changed is how much data you can use before making a decision. A good procurement person in 2025 treats every number in a quote as a question, not an answer.

Astec Corporation is one of the manufacturers in this space. The brand doesn't change the math. If you're evaluating Astec equipment—or any other equipment—run the same five steps. Your budget will tell you the rest.