To Fix or To Prevent…. Part III of V

October 8th, 2014

Are you investing in preventing breaks for your equipment or fixing it as you go?

Today’s post is by Mark Davis; Sr. Vice President of Operations and COO at SafeSourcing.

This week we have been going through a five part series examining the steps companies are taking to determine their repair and maintenance needs based on which of the of three groups Monday’ blog defined.  We continued yesterday with looking at Phase I of three approaches many companies follow by controlling the current costs while they prepare for an overall evaluation of where their company stands.   Today we will look at the second phase virtually all of the companies we deal are taking.

PHASE 2 – Understand the current landscape

Whether a company has a current preventative maintenance plan in place or just exploring the possibility, taking the next step of a Request For Information is a solid next step many SafeSourcing customers take to learn and validate the details they need before proceeding to the third phase.  

Best In Class Details – During the Request For Information phase 2, one of the important pieces of information to collect will be the statement of work details that go with a supplier’s preventative maintenance program as well as a break-fix program.  These details will allow a customer to pick the best aspects of each program and develop a program that works best for them and for the way they do business.  These details can then be used to collect and compress pricing in the final stage 3.

Evaluate New Talent – Service industries are some of the most volatile in terms of new companies entering, companies consolidating and companies leaving the market.  As such learning what new companies have emerged is an important step every company should take periodically so that they can make sure they aren’t missing value.  This is especially important when new companies have been formed by employees of market leaders or 2-3 medium companies combine into one strong potential leader.

Coverage & Capabilities – Along with understanding who the new players in the industry are a Request For Information can uncover other details about new capabilities and geographical coverage suppliers are offering.  National companies who are looking to find suppliers that can provide total coverage for their organization will find this a very important piece of the RFI.  The RFI can also uncover new technologies and service plans that are Best In Class that the customer is unaware of.   All of this data can then be used to create the final RFP for those companies that continue pursuing a primarily preventative maintenance focused model.

Tomorrow’s blog will look at the third and final phase companies are using to establish a best in class solution for repair and maintenance programs.  For more information on these phases or our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.  We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.

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