This week the Contractor Blog features a guest blogger, longtime NWFA member Joshua Crossman of PTL Hardwoods in Yelm, Wash.:
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This week the Contractor Blog features a guest blogger, longtime NWFA member Joshua Crossman of PTL Hardwoods in Yelm, Wash.:
I had the privilege of visiting the Lagler factory in Germany last summer and was highly impressed with the level of quality, service and training that I saw and received. Here are two points that I came home with that I would like to really highlight for you and ask you to think about and put into action:
1) The importance of servicing your machines.
Keep them well-maintained. Broken machines cost us money. We cannot produce revenue if we don't have the tools to do so. Machines that aren't running smoothly leave a poor product behind that doesn't make customers happy and won't lead to referrals. Everyone knows referrals are the best types of leads.
Sometimes guys use cost as an excuse to fixing their tools. Think about it though, which truly costs more: fixing a money making tool that isn't running smoothly or resanding an entire floor because your machine wasn't running the way it was designed to and left chatter all over the place? Maybe you have the tool break in the middle of the job and you have to MacGyver it together to get the job done on time. That's fine, my motto is WWMD: What Would MacGyver Do? But don't leave it that way, get it fixed properly right away, don't throw it on the shelf and forget about it. You'll spend more money and time messing with a jerry-rigged setup than if you just got it done right.
Also, it doesn't make you look good in front of the customer if your equipment is held together by duct tape and baling wire. The good news is that your sanding machines are way easier and less expensive to work on than your work truck. Usually it doesn't take more than five to 10 minutes to do. Mainly you just have to keep the machines clean and replace parts when they show signs of wear.
The major equipment manufacturers are more than happy to give you training on how to service your machine. If you can't make it to their location, find a factory-trained service technician. And, last, you can look on the Internet, as there is bound to be a video somewhere that will show you how.
We're nearing the $6,000 mark for a new big machine. I want to make sure to get my money's worth and make a good return on investment. I don't want to be resanding floors or have a machine sit on the shelf because I neglect the basics of maintenance and repair. While we were at Lagler, a machine was in for new parts. It was from the 1960s, so you know a few people had a good return on their investment in that machine.
2) Get proper training in how your machine is supposed to run and be used.
Sanding machines are designed and built to be ran a certain way for optimal performance and results. Why do people expect that a newly designed machine to work the same way as a machine from the '50s? Or even from different manufacturers? I'll use myself as a typical example. I was taught on a Lagler Hummel and I was taught to run the machine right to left, as was the guy before me and so forth. It wasn't until I attended an NWFA Intermediate school in Denver that I learned I was operating the machine improperly. A Hummel is best run left to right, as are most belt machines. No one previously had taken the time to get trained on how to run the equipment for best results; they just went with the old adage, "That's just the way it's always been done."
Education is so important, because as time changes, so does machine design, products and processes. They are always being improved on to keep up with customer demand. It does take a little while to break old habits and form new ones, but it can be done. It is uncomfortable at first, but the finished product is worth it. After this latest training in Germany from Lagler, I'm looking to reframe my whole sanding process again to continue to improve my final product and give my clients a better value. It will be uncomfortable at first, but I know at the end it will be worth it when I'm getting those certificates of appreciation and putting 'em in the bank.
The Lagler plant in Germany.