Servo or Pneumatic Doseur? Why the Wet End Decides

"Servo or pneumatic?" is one of the most common questions we are asked. The honest answer: the drive type matters far less than most buyers assume. What truly decides accuracy — and the real cost of owning a depositor — is the wet end, the product contact parts. A Steck wet end delivers the same high precision whether it is driven by a servo or by compressed air.

"The next best thing for sliced bread!"

Accuracy, or the lack of it, is by far the biggest cost of owning a depositing machine: a depositor that gives away product on every deposit loses far more over millions of cycles than any difference in running costs. Energy is where servo machines are most heavily marketed, yet the real-world gap is modest. A Steck Dimension HLB138 running at 60 deposits a minute and 80 grams uses the equivalent of around 930 watts in the plant room — roughly 400 watts more than a comparable servo machine. For a typical 5 to 10 million cycles a year that is only about €100 to €250 in electricity, and even less where compressor waste heat is recovered. Capital cost, depreciation, maintenance, size, robustness and depositing power all weigh more heavily on total cost of ownership than energy alone.