If your company has contracts for maintaining and servicing your equipment and vehicles, chances are, you're spending more than you need to.
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Steps to Help Cut Repair Costs 1. Dump service contracts on such low-cost equipment as faxes, low-end copiers and telephone systems. 2. Schedule 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. |
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.
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.
Survey Skills
Before you move to in-house maintenance, though, 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 you pay them extra compensation.
If you don't have employees who can make major repairs, it might still be cost-effective to hire mechanics on staff for some of the smallerjobs, rather than paying for long-term service contracts.
Small and regular repairs and service that your staff handles 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 opportunities is the insurance premiums you pay on plant and equipment.
Here are three suggestions to help lower your insurance costs while ensuring that you are adequately covered for any significant losses.
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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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Suspend coverage on seasonal vehicles and equipment. Ask your insurance professional if this is possible. 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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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 able to receive a rebate.