An Ounce of Prevention . . . |
If your company has contracts for maintaining and servicing
your equipment and vehicles, chances are, you’re
spending more than you need to.
A sure-fire way to save money is to hire your staff to do the work for
you. Not only will in-house maintenance cut costs, it's more convenient
and boosts efficiency.
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Essential steps to cut repair costs
1. Dump service contracts on such
low-cost equipment as faxes, low-end copiers and telephone systems.
2. Schedule
staff repairs and maintenance during non-business hours.
3. Replace
high-maintenance equipment. Make repairs only if they’re
cost-effective.
4. Investigate
repairs. Find out why equipment breaks down, who is using it and
whether it needs to be replaced or sent back. You'll find some clues
that will save you money.
5. Set up
schedules for routine and preventive maintenance to cut the need for
expensive repairs and unproductive down time.
6. Make sure you
don’t have service contracts on equipment you no longer own
or use.
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For example,
your business will be more productive if your vehicles and equipment
continue to run during normal hours and are serviced by staff mechanics
after hours.
Before you move
to in-house maintenance, take an inventory of your employees’
skills. Then, assign them to jobs that match those skills. These tasks
can be part of an employee’s job description or they can be
in addition to their traditional assignments and extra compensation can
be paid.
If you
don’t have employees who can make major repairs, you can
still save money by hiring mechanics on staff, rather than paying for a
long-term service contract.
Small and
regular repairs and service handled by your staff keeps your gear tuned
up, prevents maintenance from becoming an overwhelming nightmare and
eliminates costly down time. It all adds up.
Cut Insurance Costs to the Bone
A goal of every company should
be to get the most out of your resources and cut unnecessary costs
wherever possible. One area where you are likely to find some costs you
can trim is the insurance premiums you pay on plant and equipment.
Here are three suggestions to lower your insurance
costs while ensuring that you are still adequately covered for any
significant losses.
| 1. Dump
insurance on assets that would cause no economic loss to the company if
they were destroyed and could inexpensively be replaced.
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| 2.
Suspend
coverage on seasonal vehicles and equipment. If the equipment is
collateral for a loan you might have to keep minimum liability
coverage. While you're at it, see if your state motor vehicle
department offers seasonal registration tags at a reduced cost.
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| 3. Don't
insure assets you no longer have. If you trimmed your vehicle fleet
last year, did you cancel the policies on the vehicles you no longer
own? Did you cancel the coverage immediately? If you didn't, you might
be due a rebate. |
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