10 Questions to Ask Service Providers
Answers Identify the Best-Qualified Providers to Optimize Your Power Reliability
The fundamental business
of maintenance has really
not changed much in the
past couple of decades
when you consider the tasks
required on any given piece
of equipment.
What has changed is the
environment. As the world
has become more dependent on immediate access
to and rapid movement of
data, the task of maintaining mission critical systems
has become much more
complex.
Planning a major shut down
today is a bit like planning a
major offensive in a battle,
but in this case the objective
is not enemy held territory,
it’s reliability.
The other major change
has been the recognition
that you can make serious
money maintaining mission
critical systems. This has
produced a bumper crop of
maintenance providers.
In the past 10 years another
phenomenon has entered
into the equation. A new
market has emerged. As
business becomes “lean and
mean,” many companies
have embraced the building
management company.
A remarkable transition has
occurred to date with the
steepest part of the curve
yet to come.
The building management
company is both a boon
and a burden. Building
management companies
have in essence become the
customer.” Their premise is
quite simple. They provide
one stop shopping for all
building services at a reduced cost. They do this in a
variety of ways including;
• Leveraging business
volume to reduce cost of
goods and material.
• Hiring the present building staff under their
contract.
• Packaging expanded
services like construction,
project management and
commissioning services.
The building management
company has added a degree of separation between
you and your established
service company. Relationships between manufacturers and building owners are
becoming distant.
Accordingly, many of the
critical services necessary to
maintain the lifeblood of the
building have become commodities and, too often, it is
the lowest bidder that wins.
If you care about your facility, you should resist taking
service quality for granted.
One good way to begin is to
ask some probing questions. By subjecting potential service providers to a
standard set of questions,
you level the playing field
so you can make a more
informed decision.
Selecting the proper
maintenance provider will
determine how well you
fulfill your promise to your
customers.
Ask your prospective
maintenance provider
these questions and listen
to the answers. You may be
surprised. Make them prove
what they say, then make
your selection on quality,
not price.
10 Questions for Evaluating Service Providers
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
How are your techs trained to service my equipment?
Are your techs manufacturer trained and authorized?
Do you provide 24-hour service?
How many techs do you have on staff?
Can you train my staff?
How do you support your techs when they’re on site?
How do you keep current with changing product?
What type of service agreements do you offer?
What spare parts do your techs carry to service my
equipment?
10. How experienced are your service techs?
1.
How are your service
technicians selected, trained
and qualified to work on my
critical equipment?
This is important. Some
maintenance companies
have only a few specialists.
While they may have many
people, the person arriving
at your site in an emergency
may not be trained to repair
your system. They may even
cause a system level failure.
Ensure that the folks who
may respond are qualified
on the equipment installed
and understand how each
piece relates to the system.
The recent trend of creating one stop shopping has
resulted in the melding
of various manufacturers’
service organizations. With
that comes reduction in
force and diluted experience
levels. For example, you
may have a certain brand
of power transfer switch in
your facility feeding a critical application.
Due to acquisitions, you
may find the first person to
arrive at the scene is actually
a breaker mechanic from
another division. Does that
make you feel comfortable?
2. Are your techs authorized 3. Do you provide 24-hour
and or trained by the manufacturer?
Prove it. No big deal, right?
Wrong. Your emergency
power system is the lifeblood of the facility. The
people working on it must
have the proper skill set and
training. Your life may literally depend on it.
And let’s not forget the personal liability you may have
as an owner or operator.
Civil actions and penalties
are becoming the law of the
land, so protect your facility
and yourself.
Maintenance providers
must have an official relationship with the manufacturer they claim to represent. Failure to do so may
mean the maintainer is not
aware of current procedures
or service bulletins.
service? How?
Have them explain call
handling, escalation and
response procedures.
The owner must understand
how people will be contacted and directed when
needed.
A good escalation plan provides for uniform steps and
involvement of escalating
levels of management. The
critical system maintenance
company should be ready,
willing and able to commit
all the necessary resources
to solve a situation regardless of the date or time.
Demand to meet some of
the staff and management
of the company you are
considering to use.
4. How many techs are
on staff? Are there enough
people to properly support
my site in the event of a disaster or heavy schedule?
No one ever has more staff
than they need. The question is how well does your
potential service provider
manage his or her human
assets? The more dedicated
product specialist, the better. Understand what your
options are.
“Maintenance is not fail and fix, it’s predict and prevent.
If you don’t know how to predict and prevent, you’ll
never be a success.”
Jay Lee, Center for Intelligent Maintenance Systems
at the University of Wisconsin
5. Can your company provide training for my staff?
This is also important. Why?
In the middle of the night,
your staff or that of your
building management
company will likely be the
first on the scene when
a problem arises. A clear
understanding of the operation of critical systems can
prevent a mistake. Mistakes
can mean a much larger
event and possibly damage.
Manufacturers should be
able to provide comprehensive training to those who
will be the first responders.
Sophisticated training stations like these shown here
6.
7.
What happens when the
technician can’t figure out
the problem? Does the
prospective service provider
have help available 24/7? Is
that technician truly on his
own?
You will want your provider
to be aware of anything
affecting your system. How
well connected they are
makes a huge difference.
How do you support the
technicians who will be on
my site? (Technical support,
parts etc.)
How does your company
become aware of product
changes, technical bulletins
etc. from the manufacturer?
Even the most experienced
field people need help
sometimes. Make sure your
prospective provider has the
ability to support the people
dispatched to your site.
A formal system of service
alerts or bulletins must
exist. Third party providers are simply not tuned in.
Lack of important technical
procedures or information
has caused more than one
major system failure.
help service technicians diagnose and solve difficult repair
issues. Programs simulate a
range of failures.
8.
What type of maintenance agreements do you
offer?
Take the time to understand
what types of agreements
are available and which one
best fits the requirements of
the system and facility.
Some equipment is
relatively simple and very
dependable. So it is possible to do little or nothing,
call it maintenance and get
by. This “dust off and test”
philosophy is dangerous.
You may feel comfortable
that your gear has been
maintained when if fact, the
system may be on the verge
of failure. Trust but verify.
The old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” has
no place in today’s business lexicon.
9.
What spare parts do you
carry for my equipment?
You will find that many
companies do not invest in
spares. They may bank on
the manufacturer having
spares available in an emergency.
The bottom line is that if
they’re in the maintenance
business, spare parts are a
cost of doing business. Will
they have the parts you
need in an emergency?
If they are taking your money, they should, so make
sure they do. As pressure to
reduce costs mounts, some
service providers try to leverage logistics of materials
to reduce operating costs.
Ok for them, not so good
for you.
Imagine your UPS has a
problem. Your service
provider arrives and quickly
identifies the culprit as a bad
circuit board. The problem,
however, is the service
company chooses to stock
parts at depots around the
country, rather that carry
van stock or local office
inventory. This requires an
order to be placed, the part
flown in and your critical
system remains down while
you wait.
10. What is the average
experience of your field force
on the equipment I have?
There are many companies
who have general knowledge or are not qualified.
Make sure you understand
these qualifications of your
prospective maintenance
company. For example, one
major manufacturer advertises thousands of “feet
on the street” to provide
service to critical gear.
Without your critical systems, you’re out of business. The old adage, “If it
ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” has
no place in today’s business
lexicon.
For more information on the
aspects of quality service,
call 800-800-ASCO (2726),
or visit ascoservices.com.
Be sure you understand
what maintenance services you’re getting for your
money.
Some service providers offer customers the opportunity to
visit product testing and development labs. Thorough design,
testing and inspection help ensure reliability in the field.
ASCO Pow er Technologies
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Publication 4019
© August, 2007 All rights reserved.
Printed in the U.S.A.