The importance of choosing the right service supplier
July 1st 2006 In today's fast-moving world of logistics, the more efficient and cost-effective your materials handling equipment, the greater your competitive edge, which is why your choice of service partner is as important as your choice of equipment says BT Rolatruc
With the efficiency of your materials handling operation largely dependant on your equipment it is vital to choose a supplier who understands the value of a relationship built on trust, good communication, and an in-depth understanding of your operation. With this in mind you can be confident that they will deliver a service that helps to ensure a cost effective trouble free operation.
Flexible Solutions
Because no two operations are the same, everyone's needs are different. Choosing a supplier with a wider range of solutions and the ability to tailor these to your individual needs will ensure you have the right plan for your business and help to optimise your materials handling costs.
Things to look for in your service solution: - With greater emphasis on health and safety than ever before it is vital that your materials handling equipment complies with all the relevant regulations. Your provider should have the technological knowledge to make the suitable recommendations ensuring compliance.
- As well as being able to service their own product your service provider should be able to provide service maintenance for your entire fleet as part of your total service package.
Always ready to respond
Choosing a company that understands the implications of unplanned stoppages to your operation will help you ensure your materials handling equipment does not let you down.
Scheduling the right level and frequency of preventative maintenance visits will help ensure your trucks are kept working to your requirements. However, just as importantly, it is vital that your supplier can manage any unforeseen problems.
Things to look for in your service solution: - Your service provider should have the ability to resolve a problem quickly and efficiently ensuring maximum uptime of your equipment.
- A good service provider will also look for a solution and not just a fix to any reoccurring problems. Giving advice and suggesting alternatives to improve your operation.
Total Fleet Management
There are many factors influencing productivity, which is why effective fleet management is crucial to the success of any operation.
To proactively review and improve your performance, whilst at the same time looking to control life cycle costs, is a time consuming task which many companies don't have, or in most cases lack the relevant information.
Therefore, a good service provider should have the tools, information and expertise required to effectively manage your fleet for you.
Things to look for in your service solution: - The ability to capture and review all maintenance, downtime, parts consumption and damage costs information, to provide a complete picture of your operation, is essential when monitoring your fleet.
- It is important that your supplier holds regular meetings with you to review your fleet management reports, and make suitable recommendations to improve efficiency.
As the first company in the industry to be awarded the ISO 9002 certification nationally, BT has set its quality standards high. They have been at the forefront of material handling equipment design, production and care for 60 years and recognise the importance of material handling equipment in most business operations.
According to BT, if you choose them as your service specialist, it means you are partnering with a reliable, quality assured company that provides a friendly response and fast-track problem resolution with predictable costs, a clearly defined service level agreement and more importantly no false promises. More articles from Toyota Material Handling (UK) Ltd: | 
