You have a General question that has alot of what if's..
I'm a Etech for a manf company that on occasion has to resort to
outside help to get a certain process up and running.
Downtime is big bucks...some have a 1000.00 per hour rating.
Would you be available 24/7?
Would you have a quick response time?
We would normally call the OEM Tech Support...most have a 24 hour
hotline....some charge for after hours support...apx 100 per hour.
For the high dollar machines...the tech support came with the price,
24/7 support, stay with us on the phone until the machine is running or a part has been identified as malfunctioned. Would we call outside help to come in and fix it??? Not likely.
Making changes in how a process operates...the plant is full of self made engineers that do that all the time...
Would they call someone in to make the changes?
that depends upon the price...we can get the OEM Eng. to make a change for about 150 per hour...can you beat that price and make a living at it?
You see, there's alot of possible what if's...
You would need a second means of income...you can't always depend
on the steady check coming in from customers.
I know this didn't answer you question...I just wanted to give you a heads up on something that I've dealt with for years.
I work on other company's machines on my days off...
my employer doesn't know about this.
It's a sideline that I don't advertise ...The jobs are few and seldom...and
I only charge a few bucks a hour($$.00)
I can't afford to go full time....I need a steady income right now.
Good Luck
Chuck