Industrial Maintenance: Finding The Right Contractor

Jun 9
21:01

2012

Aloysius Aucoin

Aloysius Aucoin

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If you have a small shop or warehouse, there's nothing wrong with doing all of your industrial maintenance in-house. However, a larger workplace will likely have much more success hiring an outside firm. Here are some tips on finding the right contractor.

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If you have a small shop or warehouse,Industrial Maintenance: Finding The Right Contractor Articles there's nothing wrong with doing all of your industrial maintenance in-house. Hire employees with a mechanical background, put them through a training program, and you should be good to go. However, if you have a larger workplace, you will likely have much more success hiring an outside firm (or, if needed, an entire staff dedicated solely to caring for your machines) to handle any problems that will arise on a regular basis. The downtime of your machinery will cut into efficiency and profits, which is something no business can afford. Here are some tips on finding the right contractor.

Do Your Research

If you were looking for an industrial maintenance contractor even ten years ago, you would have had a much tougher path than you will today. Though it can get obscured with games, time-wasting forums and other fluff, the primary benefit of the Internet is information. This is exactly what you'll need to find a good contractor. Start by going to the horse's mouth. Look up a contractor's website and see what it has to say. Often this is all you'll need to figure out whether they are a good fit for your company. Beyond that, you can use the Internet to seek out reviews and other bits of information that can lead you in the right direction.

Experience

Longevity matters when considering an industrial maintenance contractor. If you want to purchase a toaster, it doesn't really matter if you buy from a store that has been in town for fifty years or the one that opened up last week. A toaster is a toaster. When it comes to service-oriented jobs, however, the length of time a contractor has been in business can give you some invaluable clues. A company can't survive for long if they are disappointing clients at every turn. Merely by being in business for a long time, they are showing you that they are doing something right.

Specific Expertise

Industrial maintenance covers a lot of ground. A contractor who specializes in taking care of bulldozers or steam factories may not be the right fit for your commercial laundry. Look into the expertise the contractor brings to the table. It doesn't make sense to hire an outside firm to take care of your machinery if you have to train them how to do it and watch them like a hawk every time they take out their tools.