Machine troubleshooting service.

[codyst]

I'm not all that thrilled with the way things are going at the automotive facility I am working at; and I've been kicking around the idea of starting my own business that would offer machine troubleshooting services.

I used to work for a machine tool builder, and have experice diagnosing controllers, retooling machines, making PLC changes, replacing motors, drives, and ballscrews. I wrote CNC programs, as well as reprocessed existing programs for cycle time. I also did some of the integration of robots, and have no problem programming and teaching Fanuc, Nachi, and Motoman. I am very familiar with Fanuc, and Indramat CNC controllers, and Allen Bradley for material handling.

After we went out of business I built two presses for a company so they could press out ball joints and bushings on reject parts so they could be reworked.

If you had a problem with a machine, and found someone in the yellow pages offering this type of service how likely would you be to contact them?

[CRFultz]

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

[gar]

codyst:

It may be difficult to develop customers that will call you very often. Most big companies do their own service work if possible. If they go outside, then they call in someone from the vendor of the machine with the problem.

Experience in troubleshooting difficult problems would be needed, but these are most often machine specific.

Smaller companies may not have internal service capability and these would be your most likely prospects. But they do not have the money that big companies have.

You might try creating a useful product to sell instead of doing service work. With the correct product your possibilities are greater than a one man service operation.

The price of your service would be a major factor in your potential market.

.

[tmechanic]

Your market is going to be small to medium size businesses, and as a one man shop you'll have to stay regional. The things you have going for you are responce time, you won't have to put them off for a week or two so you can free up a tech, and you're not brand specific, this is actually a double edged sword, so if they are having troubles with different machines they only need to bring in one tech. Now to the meat.
You say you can program PLCs, which brands, using which software, do you own the software, do you have the needed cables, do you have access to software that is out of date, some times up to 20 yrs old. Do you have access to the parts that may be needed to fix a particular machine, or have you set up a relationship with some of these manufaturers so you can get priority ordering, do you have a shop where you can do custom retooling.

And that's only the tip of the iceburg of what you need to determine before you go out on your own, oh yeah, and don't expect to break even for at least 5 yrs.
Not trying to rain on your parade but I've looked into going out on my own too, I figured at least $20k just for software, cables etc. it was the living expenses that were going to kill me. The income is not steady, but if you can start getting your name out there and a good rep and repeat customers things sort of smooth out but there'll still be lean times.

[codyst]

Thanks for the replies. I have the customer base to get started, but have decided to rethink my options. I've got a few other things brewing, and if anything comes of them, I'll drop back in and give you an update.

I aprreciate the input.

Cody

[NC Cams]

A bigger issue is that of getting paid.

Doing work for some folks involves waiting 60 to 120 days for your money. The OEM's have strung some people out nearly 6 months with purchase agreements and other such tricks to help their cash flow.

I'd think that there might be a "market" for servo tuners and other service work. On the other hand, down time repairs can be real pressure cookers and, with short lead times and hard to get parts, you could be screwed. You could also make good money if the problem is readily fixable and you have the "magic part" needed to fix the machine.

You need a bit tighter focus on the type and level of service that you'll provide. Yes, servicing Fanuc is enticiing, especially when you see what Fanuc charges. However, if you get a call and the client doesn't have documentation, don't expect ANY help from Fanuc. They're notoriously tight with tech information, especially schematics for older or dated machines.

Take what you know and can service readily and see what transpires BEFORE you quit the day job....

[One of Many]

I can add a bit of insight to the Field Service issues you may encounter.

Out of the 5 years I was in the trade, not one was truely profitable and that was for an OEM. The lone Service Tech might make a go if the charge time covers ALL expenses to support the business, but then add living expenses to that and you can very easily end up in the red compared to a decent paying in-house maintenance department position.

The OEM I worked for charged the customer $130/hr with a 2hr min. No travel time or living expenses for US territories. I have flown from Seattle to Alaska to literally change a lightbulb that was blowing a fuse! The $260 charge didn't even touch the moments notice air fare, meals and hotel. About the same situations on other Service calls going to New England and Hawaii.

I know. Not exactly your plan, but sometimes keeping the cost in mind that you cover verses what you can charge the customer as service might not pan out to pay you much if any wages. My primary reason for leaving the field was that the overhead never allowed for the wages to compensate my absence at home. As an aside. The last thing I wanted to do was get on another airplane and vaction in another hotel.

I do the moonlighting thing periodically too with past customers in a spot. Not often, but enough to keep me in mind and still home every night.

With your experience you should not have a problem finding work. Automation design is in need of broadly talented people. That is where I went after leaving Field Service. If anything else, your next stepping stone should at least add to your talents. I sincerely enjoy being capable of designing machines, making custom parts and assemblies, bringing them to life and fixing the ones I didn't design.

Best of luck to you,

DC