Cleaning Machine Beyond Economical Repair at Derby Retail Store
Sometimes we have a situation where it's just not cost effective to repair a machine. We call this “BER” i.e. Beyond Economical Repair. This was the case when one of our engineers visited a large discount retail store in Derby a week ago. Derby is situated on the River Derwent in Derbyshire. It is noted for its rich history, dating back to the Saxon era and its manufacturing hubs for the likes of Toyota and Rolls Royce, who opened their factory there in 1907.
Assessing the Machine
The call came into us from the head of cleaning operations in a large discount retailer that was experiencing a multitude of issues with their floor cleaning machine. As a large store in the city, it had a vast amount of floor space, which, as a result of regular customer foot fall and trolley traffic, needs consistent cleaning to meet store and hygiene standards. Thus, it was very important for the engineer to assess the machine and remedy the issue. It was revealed that the machine, a Viper Fang 24T battery powered pedestrian scrubber dryer was purchased second hand, over seven years prior to the call. Over this period of time, the Viper Fang 24T was seeing daily use and had never been serviced at all. Upon taking the job, our engineer made sure to take with him a loan machine, in the event that their own Viper Fang 24T needed to come back to the workshop for more extensive repairs. After inspecting the machine, the engineer declared that the machine was beyond economical repair. As aforementioned, this is a situation in which the cost of repairing the machine actually outweighs the cost of leasing or purchasing a new one. With this in mind, the store manager was notified that the ageing machine was essentially a complete write-off. The store was offered a loan machine to replace their old Viper Fang 24T and upon use, the operator was extremely impressed. So much so that he was now aware of how ineffectual the old machine had become. The decision was made to go down the route of acquiring a new machine, and the store manager was put into contact with a member of the sales team, who advised on the various options, including leasing, purchasing an ex demonstration machine or a brand new one.
