Myths
The 5 Most Frequent “Misstatements” Concerning Replacement Plasma Consumables
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Some plasma-cutting system users approach the idea of purchasing aftermarket replacement consumables with uncertainty. Often, this uncertainty is due to attempts by the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to recover customers they have lost through fair trade competition – customers who have purchased high-quality replacement consumables from a company other than the OEM. The OEM tries to convince customers to only use it’s own consumables, and typically uses the highly questionable arguments listed below to do the convincing:
Fiction1. Replacement Consumables and Torches will cause equipment failure. |
FactOf course, this is merely a scare tactic to pressure the consumer. The majority of the major plasma cutting OEMs own an aftermarket company or sell a brand of replacement consumables for their competitor’s plasma systems, yet some of these same OEMs have accused others of stealing their rightful business. |
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2. Only OEM torches and consumables offer true performance. |
In the world of manufacturing and sales, no one is going to settle for less than the best. If the argumentation of the OEMs was applicable, third party product users would quickly return to the expensive genuine parts or be forced out of the marketplace. Prove this to yourself by trying genuine Thermacut consumables. You will see equal or greater performance, plus cost savings. | |
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3. Only superior service can be performed by OEM technicians. Often, OEMs claim that only their own authorised technicians are able to provide technically qualified consulting to the users. |
Thermacut employees are in continuous contact with the research and development department, and receive regular training in all the new OEM releases, as well as for Thermacut’s newly developed products for more than twenty OEMs. The competence of our employees in the area of user consulting and troubleshooting rivals that of the OEM, because our employees are trained on multiple OEM cutting systems and not just a company-specific system. |
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4. Your warranty will be voided. Some OEMs threaten their customers with the potential loss of their rightful claim to service and product warranty if they continue to use anything other than genuine OEM torch consumables. OEM’s state that in the future customers must return to the use of genuine parts. |
The refusal of service and/or warranty due to the customer’s use of non-genuine consumables is not legally permissible in most countries, including the United States. Rather, the warranty provider must explicitly prove that the damage caused is exclusively due to the use of third-party consumables. Thermacut guarantees that its replacement torches and consumables will not damage the customer’s plasma cutting system.
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5. Appeal to morals Once the OEM has reached the end of its argumentation, it may try to guilt the user in an attempt to reclaim the cutting user’s approval of its products. |
The inconsistency of the arguments to the customers becomes clear when major OEMs such as Hypertherm® (the largest OEM of plasma-cutting systems in the world) offers replacement cutting torch consumables of other OEM systems through its subsidiary Centricut®. |