Keyword or Search: <% Dim MyValue2 Randomize MyValue2 = Int((6 * Rnd) + 1) Set Conn = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection") Conn.Open Session("trsa_ConnectionString2") MySQL = "Select * From HouseAds Where HouseAdID Like '%" & MyValue2 & "%' " Set Conn = Conn.Execute(MySQL) %> "> " alt="" width=130 height=85 border=1 align=top> <% conn.close %>	Suppliers describe replacement picture Do you have difficulty getting replacement parts? At the request of the LSAA Technical Development Committee, I asked a number of machinery manufacturers for information about their replacement parts policies. Some manufacturers said they shipped most current replacement parts promptly. Others acknowledged that, at times, there were problems in providing certain types of replacement parts. Some companies described the conditions responsible for creating problems and offered suggestions to help linen supply and industrial rental operators overcome them or minimize any impact on their operations. In describing policies and practices, even those makers acknowledging problems indicated they are trying to improve their replacement parts service. Equipment manufacturers offered a number of suggestions to customers for helping their parts departments do a better job of meeting the needs of linen suppliers and industrial rental operators. Do what you can to prevent parts from wearing out prematurely. As one company put it, "Proper preventive maintenance will greatly reduce the possibility of an emergency breakdown due to parts failure." Learn the principles of a true preventive maintenance program and apply them to your plant operations. Try to anticipate your need for replacement parts whenever possible. Order routinely replaced parts before you have an equipment breakdown. Your people can see such things as ironer feed ribbons and padding, conveyor belts etc., and they should be able to tell when they are getting badly worn. One company told me, "It is not unusual to receive orders for items like these at three or four o'clock in the afternoon and customers want the materials shipped out the same day." Stock your own parts when you operate older equipment, and when parts must be specially made. Collect historical information on the approximate service life of parts so you will know which parts to stock and when to order more. When ordering parts, properly identify the exact part required. Most equipment manufacturers furnish parts lists with their machines. Keep these in a safe place and available for ready reference. If you do not have parts lists for some of your equipment, try to get them. If parts lists are not available, look for a part number, a serial number or any other kind of identifying number on the old part. Communicate this information to the parts department when ordering a replacement. Also, identify the machine for which you are ordering a part by model number and serial number. Keep your payments for replacement parts current. Sometimes parts orders may be delayed because of credit and collection problems. Equipment manufacturers want to provide good service to their customers. Companies faced with shipping problems are also making significant progress towards their objectives of providing better and faster service. Here's a summary of some of the information I received from machinery manufacturers: AUTOMATIC STEAM PRODUCTS CORP. (Sussman) Herb Deitz, vice-president of the company, said he hoped his company was not delinquent in furnishing customers with replacement parts within reasonable periods of time, adding. "On rare occasion some part may be unavoidably detained in shipment; however, for the most part our company has pride in itself on the fact that we have developed a reputation for excellence in service to all our customers for well over 50 years and we hope to continue for the next 50 years." As did a number of others writing to me, Deitz said he would welcome hearing directly from any of his customers who feel they are receiving less than normal service from his company. CHALLENGE-COOK BROTHERS Both Earl Spengler and Challenge-Cook's manager of customer service, Larry Talkington, responded. Talkington told me he dealt with two categories of orders for parts —parts required for a piece of equipment that is inoperative and parts ordered for inventory purposes. Of the parts ordered for equipment that is inoperative, 98 per cent are shipped within 24 hours. Talkington told me, "Any order, in this category, received by 2:30 p.m. will generally go out the same day. Orders received for parts intended for dealers' stock or customer inventory go out in five to ten working days. Parts requiring special painting, wood crating, or special handling will require closer to the ten days. "Of these normal orders, we are running 90 per cent efficiency. That is, of the items ordered in this manner, our back orders are running at about ten per cent. "We currently have our systems people working on further refinements to our computer-based program which we expect will enable us to better serve and understand the needs of our customers." CHICAGO DRYER CO. W. M. Johnson, president of Chicago Dryer Co., wrote: "We carry in stock virtually all parts which might need replacement on machines built since about 1940. We do have some parts for machines which were built in the 1920s and 1930s. On standard parts orders, most are shipped within 48 hours after receipt. "If a customer is broken down, we try and ship the same day. There are some parts which we cannot carry in stock since they are rarely replaced and which must be ordered from the manufacturer. This includes items such as 550 volt motors, and so forth. We sometimes fall behind on certain parts ordered during our summer vacation period. During this period small parts which can be shipped in cartons are usually shipped out promptly but large parts which require crating might be delayed a week or two. "We also have spare parts kits for most of our machines, but find that very few users in the United States wish to carry any spare parts if it can be avoided. "We regard the proper handling of replacement parts orders as essential to maintaining good relations with customers." COLMAC INDUSTRIES, INC. Roger McMillan said, "Our company prides - itself on giving three-day service on all parts orders. Any order which is not shipped within three days is reported to the vice-president of manufacturing. If we cannot ship within three days, we always call or write the customer and discuss any delays or problems we are going to have in filling a certain order. "We believe supplying parts as fast and as efficiently as possible is good business. "Most of our orders are shipped out within 24 hours of receipt of the order. It appears to us that our parts volume has been increasing in the last few months." ELLIS CORP. Bob Fesmire was quite candid in describing one of the problems his company has in providing replacement parts for older machines and told what had been done in spite of this problem: "Some of our customers are still operating equipment that we manufactured over 40 years ago. We introduced our unloading washer in 1945 and we estimate that 97 per cent of these machines are still in service. As operating experience revealed ways to improve the machine, we would re-design various assemblies and sub-assemblies. When we improve a part, considerable thought is given to insure that the new part will fit older machines. Since this is not always possible, we can have several generations of a certain part which causes one of our problems. "Our philosophy is to supply parts for all of the machines we make, and we feel we are 99 per cent effective in this endeavor. The problem is inventorying these slow-moving parts. Obviously we can tie up considerable working capital in doing so. In an effort to reach a somewhat happy medium, we have tried to encourage our customers to stock parts on our older machines. "Parts which are currently in use are sent out 48 hours after we receive the order unless it is a special, which is given same day service. GOLDEN STAR, INC. Gary Gradinger wrote that, while the problem of providing replacement parts for his company's machines is perhaps less complex than some others, the approach taken by the company has done a lot to eliminate the problem. He wrote: "While our basic business is chemicals and textiles, we do manufacture and supply hundreds of mop treating machines to the rental industry. While sometimes there are backlogs on delivery due to fluctuation of demand for mop treating machines, replacement parts have never been a problem. "We deliberately designed our machines using readily available OEM parts from such diversified suppliers as W. W. Grainger Co. with branches in every principal city. Our customers are never more than a day or two without parts. Certainly not all manufacturers are as fortunate as we. Our system has worked so satisfactorily that we make availability of parts among the highest priorities in our design phase of any new product." GRANTHAM INDUSTRIES. INC. Bill Grantham said, "We have a company policy that the sun doesn't set on a parts order. "To us, that means orders are shipped the day they are received." JENSEN CORP . Harold Fanni parts manager for Florida-based Jensen, reported that supplying spare parts for his company's equipment is not a problem. He went on to explain the way in which Jensen keeps it from becoming one. "We have no back order backlog, and we are able to ship parts the same day in 99 per cent of the cases. We maintain an adequate supply of parts to meet the demand of our customers and have virtually no complaints. In fact, we carry a replacement parts inventory equal to 8-10 times our monthly parts orders. "Occasionally we do have a special order in which a part has to be fabricated but, nevertheless, with full explanation to our customer, we do expedite in a reasonable time. We make every effort to get customers' orders out expeditiously by air, if requested and surface orders are routed in the best possible way to insure prompt delivery. "We are very conscientious about serving our customer needs and taking care of their parts requests promptly, as we realize the importance of having parts available, offering courteous service and expediting deliveries. "The conditions outlined in your letter may exist in sonic companies, but we are very pleased to report they do not exist t Jensen Corp. We manufacture quality equipment and considering the amount of equipment do have operating throughout the industry, our replacement parts is very low in warranty periods." LUDELL MANUFACTURING Co. Mike Dineen wrote that, at Ludell, "We process 99 percent of the orders within e day of receipt of the order. That is for current machines that a of current manufacture. We supply obsolete parts (acquired with the acquisition of Hydraxtor and companies no longer in business) and ship approximately 87 per cent of these orders within three weeks." With the letter he wrote to us, Mike enclosed a copy of a company brochure entitled "Introducing a New Parts and Service Tool from Ludell," in which the company's "improved parts numbering system," "larger parts storage facility" and other facets of its streamlined replacement parts and service system are highlighted. PELLERIN MILNOR CORP. Dave Adams provided information about the way his company handles its replacement part business. "Since our company was founded, it has been a policy to ship parts the same day the order is received. It is the feeling of many of our people that one of the key reasons for Milnor's growth in the early years was prompt handling of spare parts orders. "We do keep records on parts shipments, and over the years we have found that our same-day parts policy has been maintained approximately 95 per cent of the time. "It is such an important point to us that: Our service manager keeps daily records of performance. Our service manager has a daily meeting with our senior vice-president, in which he discusses any parts orders which were not shipped the previous day, and he must explain why. At a weekly staff meeting our service manager provides a printed summary of the types of orders that have not been shipped and these are discussed in the open with our purchasing manager and our factory superintendent so they will be aware of any potential problems. I might mention that our marketing vice-president also takes part in this meeting. He is naturally attuned to the issue because we have actually used our past parts shipment as a selling point. "Our parts order program was computerized almost nine years ago. According to our service manager, this played a big role in helping us maintain same-day parts shipments. Because of it, orders received by 2 p.m. can still be shipped that day. "As you know , our factory is located only about a mile from New Orleans International Airport. This helps us get parts on their way in a hurry. We make two runs to the airport and post office for parts shipments daily — one at 11:30 a.m. and one at 4:30 p.m. "Of the few parts which are not shipped the same day the order is received, most are components which must be specially fabricated, painted, tested, etc. before shipping. "Our parts service is one of the characteristics of which we are most proud and I think it has done just about as much for our reputation as our machinery has." SPENCER AMERICA. INC. George Niedringhaus, vice-president, told us that the timing of our inquiry was very appropriate. His company had just released a bulletin to all Spencer distributors and direct accounts announcing a sizable price reduction on Neil & Spencer parts. In the same bulletin, company president John Sasina announced that Spencer America is also increasing its inventory levels, and he solicited requests from distributors and accounts for parts they would like to have the company carry in stock for them. UNIVERSAL TOWEL, INC. David Floyd wrote that he understands the problems and difficulties that arise when a laundry machinery dealer does not do a good enough job in supplying replacement parts for its equipment, adding: "This is one of our top priorities within our company, as we endeavor to ship out parts on the day an order is received. If it is an item that is rarely called for and we do not stock it, we have communication facilities for corresponding with our associate company in England and endeavor to have emergency parts flown over within a 24-hour period from our "Telex" contact. We also are beginning to manufacture most of our equipment here in the United States and therefore have facilities to make specific items for faster response to our customers. "I must admit, upon occasion, particularly if the parts are bought-out from one of our vendors that we find it most difficult when they do not react as rapidly as we do to our customers needs. Notwithstanding these circumstances, our motto is to "Jump Two Feet High" to expedite all replacement part orders for a customer. If customers, when ordering parts, will specifically indicate that they are in an emergency situation and are willing to pay the extra amount involved in expediting, we are willing to accomplish this for them, but as you know, priority services are becoming very expensive for the customer — but probably not as expensive as the down-time that could result in production. "Not only has our parts department been increasing in volume on a yearly basis, but the sale of capital equipment has continued to grow and obviously this is due to the back-up that we give our customers on parts and on service. WASHEX MACHINERY CORP. Stanley Rosenthal wrote: "Washex equipment is sold and serviced by independent machinery distributors. One of the responsibilities of the Washex distributor is to stock spare parts to have them available when needed by a customer. Of course, it is not possible nor feasible for a distributor to stock every part that might one day be required because of the number of machines in the field and the fact that many of the machines are over 30 years old. "The majority of replacement parts are ordered for stock and there is no urgency involved. On the other hand, when a customer has an emergency breakdown, parts are needed immediately. When this occurs, the distributor or the customer phones in the parts order and on numerous occasions the parts are taken to the airport and delivered within 24 hours. "Of course, on older machines, the parts may not be in stock and they may even have to be made to order which could take a couple of weeks."