Discussion:
Effective selling of PM programs

Customer asks "what's the difference in cost for regularly maintaining trucks versus paying for repairs as needed."

Does anyone have any return on investment figures for regularly maintaining trucks versus the repair as needed route?

This would help sell stubborn prospects that want to see figures for everything!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
  • Posted 7 Oct 2006 09:34
  • Discussion started by kaizen
  • British Columbia, Canada
Showing items 1 - 8 of 8 results.
Hi....can you please send me one copy of this cost saving stuff seems to be very intresting......ALLANLOB @ G MAIL ,C OM
  • Posted 2 Feb 2010 02:08
  • Reply by allan_l
  • united arab emirates, United Arab Emirates
i would love to see the literature as well if you dont mind:
rick(dot)crawford(at)hotmail(dot)com
thanx in advance
  • Posted 30 Jan 2010 07:43
  • Reply by rick_c
  • Texas, United States
technology: (no user serviceable parts inside)
Hello sir
can you send me cost saving on fork lift mannagment..... my id..allanlob*gmai l com thanks
  • Posted 30 Jan 2010 02:52
  • Reply by allan_l
  • united arab emirates, United Arab Emirates
Cann't agree more. Customer usually only see the cost that they pay, but they did not keep track of their hr usage. It is the best measurement to understand maintenance and repair cost by $/hr, as the hr usage determine the life span of each component. If you do a complete full maintenance to customer, then u are able to present this. Otherwise, the debate of the maitenance cost is still varies and subjective.
  • Posted 30 Mar 2007 12:41
  • Reply by simon
  • Jurong, Singapore
lol
usually the pay me later is alot more pricey
today i had a guy break out the kingpin bearing housing on his axle. he noticed the wheel was cocked a little last week and didnt have it checked out, just kept on goin ,'till today when it broke the axle itslef

also thats the attitude that these days get u thrown out the door (up here anyway with 6 dealers and alot of indies within 20 miles)
ill just tell him its not gonna heal itself (id say something to that nature but depends on my relationship with the customer) and we should fix it before it takes out other components that are not broken yet. after that i have the office fax him a quote and drop the subject untill it breaks or he approves the quote
  • Posted 13 Oct 2006 10:39
  • Modified 13 Oct 2006 10:43 by poster
  • Reply by justinm
  • New York, United States
i couldnt agree more with yaakov
alot of times suits will run you around like that to get outta signing a pm contract etc
a big selling point on pms,, in addition to mr yaakovs, i use is having a trained set of eyes on the machine that can spot condotions that will lead to an eventual breakdown then the tech can recomend repairs that will be needed to catch it before it makes the problem worse of potentialy hazardous or fatal

some examples would be worn forks (ive seen people lifting 5000lbs with 30 to 40% of their forks shaved off)
worn hoses loose fittings
worn axles wheel bearings etc
worn mast components
bad brakes
worn contactors and electrical components
bad batteries (that will lead to major damage to the machine)

correct poor charging/ battery habits (i love the guys who tell me, after their industrial battery fries up and i tell em the price for the new one, that "you guys filled the water on the last pm 3 months ago" and no one has checked it since and they use it 8 hours a day lol)

also specific problems that are found often in a certain line of machine
example when mitsu changed the design of their tilt sockets a few years back the thru bolt used wasnt torqued down enough on a lot of machines and wasnt picked up on the delivery inspection. eventually they would pull the hydraulic rod right out of the socket stripping both the socket and the rod. depending on the damage the socket almost always has to be replaced and sometimes u can rethread the rod either way though the customer was down a machine at least a day plus and expensive repair.(some come loose on their own on all makes and models of lifts and is important to check on any pm) we always check those thru bolts and readjust the tilt cylinders when one is loose that takes 5 mins tops durning a standard pm with no extra charge (since its easy to fix when you catch it)

tip the best way to tell the tilt is out of adjustment is when u dead out the tilt and the mast almost looks like it 'twists' alittle

also it always makes a customer happy when you tell him how you just saved him 600 bucks for the cost of a pm

you would be surprised what an operator wont report
i had one guy tell me, when i asked if he checks the oil on his preshift inspection, "i just get on and drive it. if the wheels fall off thats someone elses problem" i told him "until u drop a load on someone elses head and kills em after the wheels fell off"

as a tech in a busy shop in metro new york you do see a differance between the guy who does his regular maintanace and the guy who dosnt. it shows in the frequency, severity. and downtime of breakdowns
  • Posted 13 Oct 2006 07:57
  • Modified 13 Oct 2006 08:03 by poster
  • Reply by justinm
  • New York, United States
When the prospect keeps asking for data, it is often a pretext to simply put you off. Rather than compare cost of PM vs. cost of repairs on breakdown, focus the conversation on the cost disruption to the customer's operations. How much does it hurt them when they can't ship product or load production materials into a mchine? There is a real cost to downtime in workers sitting idle, delayed billing, reputation, etc.

While PM's never guarantee that a breakdown won't occur, they do decrease the likelihood of unexpected disruptions and allow a manager to control the repair process.
  • Posted 13 Oct 2006 01:07
  • Reply by yaakov_meiri
  • New Jersey, United States
Greetings,

We can help somewhat with your question, having just completed research and a presentation to the Distribution Business Management Conference titled, 'Cost Savings Through Proper Forklift Maintenance'. It deals exclusively with the fuel system, but does attempt to quantify regular tuning and dollars saved.

If you are interested I'd be happy to send you a copy of the slides and speech.

Best regards,

Wm. H. 'Bill' McGlinchey, President
AFV International llc
8 Ashwood Lane
Morgantown, WV 26508
(304) 296-6568
[email address removed]
  • Posted 12 Oct 2006 23:45
  • Reply by afvman
  • West Virginia, United States
Providing training one customer at a time.

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