Burlington, IA manufacturers finance presses and other production machines, conveyors and racking with equipment financing or a term loan, and buy raw material for a large order with inventory financing. The term can follow how long the machine will run. Requests made at (319) 422-3298 or through the request form go from Sprucehollow Financial to funding partners.
Production machines, material handling and raw material buys for Des Moines County, IA plants, with county manufacturing counts and invented term comparisons computed from rounded payments.
New or used production machinery
Manufacturing employed more payroll dollars than any other sector in Des Moines County, IA: $257.9 million in 2023 across 44 employer establishments, by County Business Patterns (NAICS 31). The under-five employee share for those plants was 25.0%. ZIP Code Business Patterns put 27 manufacturing establishments with employees at ZIP 52601 addresses the same year, 22.2% of them under five. Fabricated metal product manufacturing, which includes machine shops, accounted for 9 county establishments. Manufacturers with no employees appear in Nonemployer Statistics instead: 54 in the county for 2024.
A press brake, a CNC router, an injection unit or a packaging line can be bought new from the builder or used from a dealer, an auction or another plant. Both can be financed; the difference shows up in the price, the term and what the partner wants to see:
| Used press | New press | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $95,000 | $158,000 |
| Term shown | 60 or 84 months | 84 months |
| Monthly payment | $1,983.59 (60) / $1,540.54 (84) | $2,562.17 |
| What a partner can ask for | Inspection or hour meter reading, seller bill of sale | Builder quote, delivery schedule |
The equipment financing page covers the quote and title details for both. A used machine bought at auction needs the paperwork in hand before the bid, since auction payment terms can be short.
Conveyors, racking and material handling
Plant upgrades are not always new machines. Moving material between machines takes conveyors, pallet racking, forklifts, scissor lifts and dock equipment, and these items can be financed as equipment on their own quote. They differ from production machines in one way that matters to the request: they do not produce revenue directly, so the case for them is time saved or floor space won.
- A conveyor run between two cells: the quote should include the controls and the installation.
- Pallet racking: list the bays, the beam levels and the anchoring, since a partner sees a quantity, not a sketch.
- Forklifts: new or used, electric or propane, with the battery and charger on the same quote.
- Dock levelers and doors: identifiable equipment with supplier quotes; fixed door and structural work are excluded.
Invented example: a plant puts in $46,000 of conveyors and racking and pays it back over five years at 9.25%. That is $960.48 a month, $57,628.80 across all sixty payments and $11,628.80 in interest. If the line saves a shift of forklift travel every week, that saving is the number to set beside the payment.
Raw material buys for a larger order
A large order can need raw material before the customer pays a dollar: steel, resin, lumber, packaging. The plant buys it, runs the job, ships, and then waits for the customer's payment terms to run out. Inventory financing or a short draw covers that stretch, with the material or the order behind it.
Invented example: a plant buys $70,000 of steel for one order. Counting the run time and the customer's net-45 terms, the money is out for 75 days. At 12% a year on that balance for 75 days, interest is $1,726.03, a cost to price into the order before quoting it.
- Write down the material cost, the run time and the customer's payment terms.
- Count the days from paying the supplier to collecting from the customer.
- Price the interest for those days into the job.
- Ask for the amount and term that cover that window, not a round number.
A customer deposit or a progress payment shortens that window and the interest with it. Where the customer pays part of the order up front, subtract that amount from the material bill before sizing the request.
Matching the loan term to machine life
A machine that runs for fifteen years can carry a longer loan than a tool that wears out in four. Matching the term to the working life keeps the plant from still paying for a machine it has already replaced. The used press above shows the trade-off:
| Term | Monthly payment | All payments together | Interest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 months | $1,983.59 | $119,015.40 | $24,015.40 |
| 84 months | $1,540.54 | $129,405.36 | $34,405.36 |
The five-year schedule asks $443.05 more each month than the seven-year one, but the seven-year schedule costs $10,389.96 more in interest. If the press has ten good years left, either term ends before the machine does. If it has six, the 84-month loan outlasts the machine. A term loan that covers several machines at once can use the shortest remaining life among them as its guide.
The manufacturing industry page sets the county plant figures beside the products a plant can compare, and the request can name each machine with its age and expected years of service.
By Sprucehollow Financial · Updated
