Does the service you're getting meet your demands?

1. Is the service offered by an experienced industry technician? When you are paying for service, you shouldn't have to absorb the cost of educating the on-site technician. Many companies dispatch a "jack of all trades" mechanic who may eventually solve the problem, however, several hours are billed to you for their education of the operation of your equipment.

2. Does the technician have full service capability? When your machine requires PLC program monitoring, debugging or modification, the hired technician must have the tools and capability to provide this service. If they arrive on-site and spend hours working on the machine only to discover that it may be a programming issue, you want to be sure that they're equipped to solve your problem. After all, you are paying for their time!

3. Does the technician have access to replacement parts for your machine? You want to be sure that the service group offers you a "one-stop-shop" solution. If the service provider can't supply the parts they're suggesting you replace, how can you trust that they will solve your problem? At that point, they are conveniently passing the buck!

4. Does your service provider come highly recommended? Since you are paying premium rates for a service, it is in your best interest to obtain references from the technician you are contracting (i.e. specifically whether or not they have experience with your type of equipment). If they cannot produce quality references, you may want to re-consider using their services.

5. What additional service solutions are being offered to you? If the technician replaces a part on your machine and it works only for a short period of time before breaking down again, it allows him to return for more billable service and gives him the opportunity to replace more parts at your expense! Solving your machine problems is not as simple as changing parts! You want your service provider to analyze your needs and offer you potential alternative solutions to correct the problem once and for all. By suggesting machine upgrades, retro-fitting outdated assemblies, employing current technology and machine design advancements, substantial savings can be realized immediately. One analogy is to compare the services of a qualified auto mechanic versus a person who thinks he is one. If your car stopped running and you looked strictly at the hourly cost, most certainly the qualified mechanic would not offer you the least expensive hourly rate. But if the problem were diagnosed correctly and quickly, the overall savings and peace of mind would be yours. The alternative "backyard mechanic" approach is to replace every part until they stumble onto the problem. Once again, who's paying the bill?

Preventive Maintenance