Broken appliance: repair vs replace

Managing your own business implies always looking for the best appliances to work with and the best products to offer your clients while never disregarding your own costs and expenses. The question often rises when an appliance breaks down: “should I repair it or buy a new one?”

It’s intuitive to think that repairing a broken product is less expensive than buying a new one, which is true in many cases. Buying new equipment is a greater investment, but sometimes repairing a product is not the best way to save money, especially if you’re facing frequent breakdowns that also affect your productivity, schedules and final income. 

Decisions that have a direct impact on your productivity are sensitive and a lot of factors must be taken into consideration before proceeding:

• If you buy new equipment: consider purchasing and maintenance costs, service life, future repair costs, increase in revenue, operating costs, installation and disposal costs, training costs (if the acquired equipment is new to your employees).
• If you choose to repair your equipment: consider market value, remaining service life, repairing costs and frequency, equipment age, current performance
• Safety and health costs: newer equipment often provides a safer environment for employees because they meet safety standards more tightly.
• Environmental costs. 
• Downtime: how much time is it going to take to make repairs vs. replacing? Repairing can take less time than replacing because you don’t have to worry about arriving time, installation, new training and disposal of your previous equipment, but if repairs happen frequently, you may find you lost more working hours and profit than you should have.

Through many years of on-the-job training, ProTech Facility Service Technicians have acquired the ability to quickly compute cost-benefit analysis of different options, and help you to choose the most cost-effective solution. For example, technicians may decide that replacing an entire assembly may be more cost-effective than searching for a replacement part due to travel and labor hours involved. 

If the best fit solution can be completed under the NTE (Not To Exceed), the repairs will be completed in a timely, professional manner. If the repairs could potentially exceed the NTE, the best viable options are communicated clearly to the FSM where the most informed decision could be made. 

It is easy for any technician to recognize the most extensive, by-the-book repair solution to any given problem. However, it does not always equate to the best fit option for all situations. There are many different factors that can change what is considered the right decision. Does your solution fit within the maintenance program budget? How much time will it take to complete the repairs? What are the effects on operations or guests? Are there less invasive options that provide similar results? Is the facility due for a capital project or refresh in the near future?   

By helping clients answer these fundamental questions, the best viable solution will emerge. Once the solution has been determined, technicians will ensure that the work is completed with an invisible footprint on operations & guests. Services can be performed during the day or night, depending on the needs of the client. 

Call ProTech Facility Solutions for an appointment and get the help you need from the best technicians across the state of Texas. We have a 24hs emergency service!