Charles Bailey
Technical Education Committee Member

Most of us have heard the remark: “We’ve done it this way for the past 25 years. Why would we want to change now?”  But most of us also know that this kind of thinking can get us in trouble. Some of the methods that have been utilized over a long period of time are not necessarily the best; they could affect your business. Many times these processes are based on convenience rather than acceptable procedures.  

Repair forms
An integral part of a workable pro­cess and procedure plan is the use of repair forms. Repair forms give your service center the opportunity to docu­ment conditions of the apparatus that you are repairing. This also allows you to record the root cause failure deter­mination and communication to your customer. And it also is important for record keeping.

Because of the large amount of jobs/repairs that are in process, without the incoming information recorded, it can be difficult if not impossible to commu­nicate the correct information to your employees and customer concerning the suspected cause of failure. Repair forms provide a convenient method for supervisors, internal sales person­nel, or others to formulate a concise quotation.  

Many of us have at one time or another forgotten or missed something on a quotation to our customers. Com­plete record keeping through the use of repair forms reduces or completely eliminates the chances of missing something and the need to go back to your customer with a re-quote. Repair forms also will give a convenient meth­od for record keeping of “in-process” data for the communication of the repair schedule to your customer. Final test­ing data that is kept at the repair center as well as communicating the same to your customer upon completion of the repair is to be kept on the forms. This allows your customer the convenience of knowing what was done and what is being paid for, thus eliminating delays in getting reimbursed for the work that has been performed. 

Photo documentation
With the advent of digital cameras, photo record keeping is much cheaper and easier. The adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words” is com­pletely true. By taking and cataloging photos throughout the entire repair process, all questions about what was received, how the apparatus is to be re­assembled, failed components, repairs performed, and condition of the appa­ratus upon return to the customer is eliminated. Weekly, even daily photos with a brief statement of what has been performed can be easily communicated to your customer via e-mail. 

When the customer has the photo documentation during the process, all he has to do is forward your e-mail to his or her boss with little or no ad­ditional explanation required. Photos are also an integral part of the “root cause failure” analysis that needs to be performed. The photos should be electronically cataloged for future use. The electronic cataloging should be backed up, so the loss of the information is eliminated.  I’m sure many of us have had a request from a customer a year of two later for information about their apparatus. It is much easier to pull up the electronic repair records rather than go to wherever you keep your hard re­cords, dig out the information and then answer your customer’s questions.

Cleanliness and organization
Another easily obtained quality improvement is to ensure the cleanliness and organization of the service center.  With the daily need to complete and ship jobs so we can get them billed, it can be difficult to stop the processes in order to clean up and put materials in their places. Cleanliness and organiza­tion pay many more dividends than the small amount of time required by your entire team to clean and keep things organized. One dividend is that your employees know where to go to locate repair materials and equipment.  This cuts out hours hunting for parts that are required just to find out that they are either not complete, not ordered, or not received. That leads to wasted time and frustration of your employees. With organization, “everything has a place and everything is in its place.”  Monetary savings are realized with the elimination of wasted time and employee frustration. 

Yet another benefit of cleanliness and orderliness is employee safety. Dirt and debris can lead to a slip or a fall. And parts or equipment that is out of place can similarly represent a tripping hazard. Avoiding these issues results in less lost-time accidents and possibly better insurance rates as well as improved employee morale.    

Customer satisfaction
Another benefit of cleanliness and organization is your customer’s recognition that you care about their equipment that is under repair. They know that their equipment will come back repaired with all parts being installed, will be ready for installation and operated as it should.  We must remember that the in-shop repair is only one part of the customer's total costs. They must schedule an outage to shut down the apparatus, pay someone to remove the equipment and re-install the apparatus after repair.

The down­time, removal, and installation time can and often does amount to much more than the actual repair itself. If the apparatus is repaired in a clean and organized workshop, your customer should have the confidence that the piece of equipment will operate as it should with the shortest amount of additional downtime.  Cleanliness and organization also lead to pride by your employees in where they work and what they are doing.  This pride leads to much less rework, thus less wasted time and less wasted money.

Results in higher profits
The business improvement (read increased profits) that is gained from the above steps more than pay for the minimal cost of instituting the quality improvements by your customer’s re­alization that you and your people care about performing the highest quality repairs possible to their equipment. By communicating completely the “as found/cause of failure” conditions, in-process reporting with schedule updates and concise documentation of the repair, your customers will have the confidence to send more and more equipment to you for repair.

Categories: Technical topics

Tags: Quality Customer service

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