Equipment downtime is your operation’s worst enemy. Just like a car or house, a forklift requires maintenance and repairs after you purchase it. Taking a reactive approach to maintaining your forklifts can be accompanied by uncertainty and unexpected periods where forklifts are out of service. This can interrupt workflows that need to run smoothly for your business to succeed.
Therefore, many companies that use forklifts opt for a routine maintenance plan. The two most commonly used maintenance plans in the material handling business are planned maintenance agreements and full maintenance agreements. Both plans are designed to maintain equipment uptime, be proactive on potential repairs before breakdown, and ultimately save you money in the long run. But is the difference between a planned maintenance agreement and full maintenance agreement? We break that down right here for you.
Proactive with Planned Maintenance
Detailed inspections. Recommended repairs. Flexible billing. Tailor-made schedule. This is what Planned Maintenance looks like at WD Matthews Machinery Company. Many service providers have a detailed point inspection checklist the technician uses to inspect repair needs, potential safety risks, wearable items, and routine replacement parts. As technicians work through the checklist, he or she documents recommended repairs and provides service quotes to you for those repairs. After going through the inspection process and performing any necessary repairs, many dealers will then bill you and schedule in the next appointment based on both hour usage and date cadence. Maintaining uptime for your forklift is the value of any Planned Maintenance agreement. Toyota equipment can be sold with a prepaid planned maintenance package that includes four PMs in the first year when you invest in Toyota 360 Support Plus. New forklift investment and proactive maintenance should go together.
Free Time with Full Maintenance
Signing up your forklift on a full maintenance agreement is like receiving the royal treatment. At WD Matthews Machinery Company, you not only receive everything included in the planned maintenance agreement, but you also had a plethora of other benefits, including:
- Maintenance records, tracking, and regular reports.
- Pre-paid scheduled and breakdown repairs except for repairs due to misuse, abuse, and wearable items.
- Flat monthly payment except for repairs due to misuse, abuse, and wearable items.
With full maintenance, WDM takes on the burden of overseeing the entire preventive health of your forklift. The true benefit is that the people who work with the equipment daily at the dealership now manage your forklift maintenance. When the dealership can work side-by-side with the customer, the dealership personnel is often in the best position to understand when to make repairs and replace parts before it affects your operation. This adds additional peace of mind when owning a forklift fleet. The monthly rate also helps you budget easier as the cost will not fluctuate from month-to-month. Ideally, you wouldn’t have to pay for every scheduled maintenance interval or the unexpected repairs that come with owning the forklift. Full maintenance monthly rates take into consideration several factors, such as equipment type, forklift utilization, age, service history, and the environment in which the forklift is operated.