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Build & QuoteHow to Evaluate Your Dealer’s Maintenance Expertise
Published on December 30, 2014
You’re busy on the jobsite meeting deadlines, so it’s not always easy staying ahead of routine maintenance work. Not to mention, any new compact machines you’ve purchased in the past three years typically have more advanced service needs than their predecessors. That’s why it’s important to re-evaluate who can most cost-effectively maintain your compact excavators and loaders — you or your dealer?
It’s important to weigh your productivity against three factors:
- Your company’s capabilities
- Your dealership’s capabilities
- Your opportunity costs
Evaluating these core competencies can help you make the right decision about the type of maintenance you can manage versus what you might need a dealership’s assistance to complete.
Assess Capabilities and Efficiencies.
One of your first tasks is to review a machine’s operation and maintenance manuals, and then evaluate your company’s technical skill sets and efficiencies. Fewer companies are doing more than daily maintenance and visual checks if they don’t have a technician on staff.
The other consideration is matching technical skill to the age of the fleet. You need to know if your technicians are maintaining older-generation machines or new machines with advanced electronic systems, diagnostic packages and EPA-compliant emissions controls that require specialized — and sometimes proprietary — electronic testing equipment.