Choices and options are always good to have when it comes to selecting anything and choosing the right CNC repair service is one of those things. CNC technicians with training, skill, knowledge, and experience don’t exactly grow on trees. Finding a service resource that can handle your maintenance, service, and upgrading needs is a lot like choosing a good spouse: choose poorly and you’ll pay for it for a long, long time! Listed below are 5 tips for choosing the right CNC repair service technician, dealer, and distributor.
1) Look to the Stars
It’s going to be 2022 soon and it’s not like it’s hard to see if a service company is rated well by its customers. Online resources help provide feedback from service customers and consumers, professional and not. Read the reviews and consider the source before deciding if the advice is credible or not. Sometimes, competitors slip a little negative press into a website review page, so don’t be fooled. Anonymous postings should be considered with a pinch of salt and a little skepticism. Otherwise, it’s a fair method for researching a company’s history.
2) Take a Walk on the Wild Side
Whenever possible, it’s a good idea to go see for yourself what kind of operation you might be working with. A little walk and talk with the staff and management will help enlighten you with regard to customer support and product knowledge. Nobody wants to have their expensive, sensitive, and important CNC machine taken care of by amateurs or, worse, wanna-be’s. If the front office, parts department, and service areas aren’t clean, straight, organized, and available for inspection, think about using a better-running vendor.
3) Be a Fly on the Wall
Quality service technicians, sales and service dealers, as well as equipment distributors, love to show off their awards of excellence. It’s great propaganda and it tells everyone if the organization is meeting or exceeding their supporting manufacturer’s expectations or not. Dealers with physical plants, testing equipment, parts, technicians, service vehicles, and other obvious assets are always going to provide better support than a guy that works out of the bed of his truck.
4) Throw Curveballs
Lots of folks can handle the mundane and routine, but it takes a real pro to handle the curveballs. One way to find out if your CNC repair service has competent CNC repair technicians is to see how they handle unusual problems and issues. It’s one thing to read a manual or call the boss, but a good tech should be able to handle anything thrown at them without missing the catch. CNC repair service is about the scope and skills of repair technicians as it is about the CNC machine operators. The two go hand-in-hand when it comes to CNC machine maintenance and troubleshooting.
5) Remember – He Who Hesitates Has Lost
CNC machines need repairs from time to time. It’s a fact of life and one that cannot be avoided. The question is how long does a responsible CNC machine operator wait before asking for help? The answer is about one nanosecond. The investment in a CNC machine, training of the operator, creation of a maintenance schedule, and proper daily production all depend on the machine being right to start with. When anything doesn’t function properly, a CNC machine can quickly become a money-robbing whirlpool sucking dollars, workpieces, and tools down the drain. Staying ahead of repairs with diligent maintenance will always keep CNC repairs to a minimum, along with frustration, high costs, and misfortune.
