A maintenance agreement is an arrangement between a customer and a service contractor in which the contractor performs scheduled, preventive maintenance on the customer's equipment. The goal of a maintenance agreement is to maximize 1. Reliability 2. Safety 3. Efficiency 4. Equipment life.   Good for small businesses Most small businesses don't have or need a dedicated, full-time maintenance staff. This makes a maintenance agreement very useful for a small business because the agreement ensures that periodic maintenance, such as changing filters or lubricating parts actually gets performed.   Good for large facilities Although many large facilities have a full-time maintenance staff, the mere existence of a maintenance staff does not ensure on-site expertise. Maintenance departments look after a broad range of equipment and are often overworked.   Key aspects of a maintenance agreement A good maintenance agreement focuses on individual customer needs. Facilities with only a few pieces of equipment may require only periodic visits. Others that rely on an array of medium-to-large equipment require much more attention. Some facilities use a combination of equipment to meet various applications, each with individual maintenance requirements. This situation requires calculated, staggered maintenance visits for each machine. Therefore, a customized maintenance agreement is ideal. It is important, then, for the service contractor and facility management or maintenance personnel to discuss and understand what is required to keep the equipment running smoothly. This helps determine the number of visits, type of maintenance, and parts required. Within the agreement it is also beneficial to create and document a written schedule of both the frequency of maintenance and what work is to be performed on each visit. Ensuring parts availability is another key aspect to consider for your maintenance agreement. It is imperative that the service contractor determines what parts are required and how often they should be replaced on the basis of each individual application.   Service contractors are also more likely to have routine maintenance items in stock as a result of efficient inventory planning. However, this reality does not guarantee that a few, unique parts are always available. It is important to ensure that maintenance agreements address the availability of hard-to-find, uncommon parts.   The quality of the technicians Evaluating the skills of the service contractor's technicians is a vital aspect of making sure that a system is getting the best possible care. Ongoing maintenance training programs reflect the strength of the service contractor and should be part of the equation when choosing one. A decision-maker should seek maintenance agreements with a service contractor whose maintenance staff regularly attends manufacturers' service training classes.   These classes award certification upon completion and ongoing training as new information becomes available. Such certification helps guarantee that the organization possesses the expertise necessary to service the equipment in your facility. In addition, qualified contractors have complete access to the manufacturer's engineering and service departments should such external support be required.   The turnkey trend As large facilities economize in capital expenditures and downsize maintenance staffs to compete in a global market, a new trend is emerging that helps businesses save time and money. This trend is the so-called turnkey maintenance agreement. This type of maintenance agreement outsources all responsibility for equipment maintenance to the chosen service contractor. In effect, turnkey maintenance places the full responsibility of scheduled equipment upkeep on the shoulders of the contractor. With a turnkey agreement, the customer concentrates solely on the business at hand and leaves the burden of equipment maintenance to a responsible, trained contractor.   Bottom-line benefits Maintenance agreements are beneficial both in terms of efficiency and bottom-line financing. Efficiency increases as a contractor gets to know the customer's equipment in much the same way that a doctor builds a relationship with a patient. Just as a doctor works comfortably with a long-time patient, a technician can usually get right to the heart of the problem. In addition, a maintenance agreement should ensure that a qualified technician will be available should a problem occur, thus minimizing equipment downtime.   A maintenance agreement also allows a customer to effectively plan and account for maintenance costs throughout the fiscal year. In addition, with consistent, professional maintenance, equipment runs efficiently, therefore reducing the probability of sudden breakdown and the costs associated with emergency repairs. Further, by using maintenance agreements, you can generally count on fixed maintenance costs rather than arrange in-house budgets built on vague estimates of how much the equipment maintenance and repair might cost each year.   Pitfalls Consider several issues when developing or negotiating a maintenance agreement. Avoid canned or one-size-fits-all maintenance agreements. In fact, you should seek an agreement that is tailored specifically for your unique situation. Variables such as climate, indoor environment, and workload make a difference in the maintenance schedule. Other factors, such as proper ventilation and air quality make it impossible to effectively use any single approach.   Another pitfall to avoid is contracting with any organization that doesn't use genuine original equipment parts. Though less expensive, these so-called pirate parts will not consistently function at the same level of performance as parts fabricated by the original equipment manufacturer. Countless examples have proven that the inferior quality of pirate parts places the customer's significant investment in capital equipment at serious risk. Attempting to save a few dollars a year with look-alike parts is not worth potential catastrophic failures and costly interruptions of plant production. A maintenance agreement guarantees that genuine original equipment replacement parts be stocked and used for all maintenance – added protection for the customer's investment!   In conclusion, a maintenance agreement enhances your ability to control and reduce operating costs, increases equipment reliability and efficiency, allows you to focus on your core business tasks, and gives you peace of mind. This article is based on the article titled Understanding Maintenance Agreements, by Scott Siebers, Gardner Denver Machinery Inc.     back to PilotLight online