For decades, tobacco machinery was evaluated in relatively straightforward terms. A cutter was judged by throughput, cut width, and knife life; a GLT line by threshing performance and capacity; a drying system by outlet moisture; and a reconstituted-tobacco line by web width, line speed, and tonnes per hour. In recent years, however, a clear shift has emerged in advanced international tobacco-processing technology: customers are increasingly purchasing process capability rather than machine capability. The machine is becoming the platform through which that process capability is delivered.