After Sales Service Woes For Engineering Products & Services? There Is a Solution!

In my years of experience, I have found four common yet major issues in after sales service and support for engineering products and services….

 1.      The first and foremost issue that comes to mind is….did the product fit the specs? This is a major concern everywhere if the product is not custom made. This usually occurs when engineers guesstimate the specs that are not always accurate. Very often products are purchased which are not optimized for the application. So, the obvious question is….how we do ascertain if the fit is good? One prime example, that I can think of, is the Industrial Belt. These belts are manufactured with the ability to survive a certain level of tension but very often they are mounted on a drive that far exceeds their limits. 

 2.      Next comes transportation. Damage during transportation is common and real. External damage can be seen and attended to, but the problem arises when the damage is internal. How do we even know?!

 3.      The third issue, according to me, is abuse by the operators. Unfortunately, this is very common for complex machines. These products need to be operated correctly and get regular maintenance. So, if a blower is supposed to last 5 years, very often you find it dying before 5 months. Several instances of misuse could be responsible. For example, the air filter associated with it is not getting cleaned. However, the manufacture is always blamed and held responsible.

 4.      Environment is the fourth concern. Ambient temperature, humidity, electrical power ( low harmonic and noise, balanced, low over-voltage etc. ) -  all matter to machines and products a lot. But if the product degrades fast, manufacturers will be blamed for the degradation.

 Interestingly, all of them have a single solution. Equip the product with vibration and current signature analysis if the sensor cost doesn't affect the bottom line. If it hits the bottom line, then one can have a retrofit system mounted on the product for first one week of installation and look for 1-4 leading to faster death.

 If you are facing any of these issues, please contact me bpal@machinesense.com .