Last week we talked about avoiding those ugly “job site surprises”. Some wrote me saying that “surprises” are inevitable- I AGREE! I spent over 20 years down in the cleaning/restoration trenches so hey- been there- done that!
BUT what drove me into a snarling, teeth-gnashing rage was when nasty surprises (and the problems they caused) could have been avoided! Invariably the cause was sloppy execution (Bad EMPLOYEES!) or more commonly a poor (or non-existent!) Business Infrastructure. (Bad ME!)
For example, equipment would break on-site. (Hey, it happens!) So my techs would swap the item out and keep working. (I’m good with this too. I didn’t want to spend valuable production time on repairs.) BUT here is where MY blood pressure would soar…
My employees would just put the broken/unsafe equipment back into our inventory! So a different (and totally unsuspecting) tech would carry the broken item right back out on another job! And the whole profit destroying vicious circle would repeat itself AGAIN AND AGAIN AND …! (I’m getting angry just thinking about it!) So please…
Implement an Equipment Repair Sheet in your company.
All non-functioning/unsafe tools and equipment should be immediately “red-tagged”. Then an Equipment Repair Sheet should be filled out by the original tech with WHO was involved, WHERE is it, WHAT happened, WHEN is the item needed again and (most importantly) HOW the problem can be avoided in the future.
Download instantly HERE the Equipment Repair Sheet I used in my company.
Commercial HINT: My very best idea for your commercial equipment repairs? Use reliable stuff that simply doesn’t break down! For example, check out HERE how encapsulation cleaning with the Cimex transformed Jeff Cutshall’s company. Then download our free Guide to Building Commercial Maintenance Routes.
Restoration HINT: Don’t put it off! The emergency nature of restoration means ya gotta roll when the call comes in! So clean and repair your restoration stuff immediately upon return to the shop. And always “modularize” your small items.
Now, don’t you have something to repair? Then go “git ‘er done!”
Steve