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Service & maintenance: Keep on running
Innovations in service and maintenance can keep frustrating ‘out of order’ signs from appearing in your club. Kate Langrish reports
The last thing any club wants – either aesthetically or in terms of customer satisfaction – is an ‘out of order’ sign on one of its machines.
“We conducted an extensive study of operators, exercisers and service technicians – across five countries – around using and servicing equipment, and found that what customers value over anything else is reliability,” says Adam Hubbard, director of product management at Precor.
“Out of order signs can have a significant impact on member recruitment, retention and ancillary revenues, so you want machines that are designed with dependability, longevity and ease of service in mind.”
Any machines that do break down should be back up and running in ideally no more than 48 hours.
Here’s how the latest innovations in service and maintenance – as well as in product design itself – could save your club time, money, and above all frustrated members.
How to reduce downtime...
Commercial Director,
Cybex UK
“Cybex’s new feedback system, Asset Management, allows customers to register each product online using the product’s unique serial number. Once registered, customers are able to automatically report equipment faults directly to our service department, and view the service history log for each piece of equipment.
“It also allows staff to track equipment usage, so they can swap machines around if, say, one spot in a row of treadmills is more popular. This ensures even usage, increasing equipment’s lifespan.
“Another function sets and tracks tasks for gym staff – which can include cleaning or maintenance checks – to ensure each piece of equipment is being managed correctly and efficiently.”
“Asset Management automatically reports equipment faults directly to the service department”
Joe Riley,
Operators Manager,
Pulse
“We’ve seen a decline in direct calls to the office thanks to the implementation of our online service portal in August 2014. This allows customers to log in to a website and view a stock asset list, raise service calls, view progress of service calls, request parts and export KPIs.
“Our in-house service engineers have also been issued with tablets giving access to the new service/stock management software, so all calls, service history, parts and availability are viewed and updated seamlessly. As a result, we’ve seen an improvement in the speed and efficiency of service calls.
“Each customer is given a digital and hard copy handover pack, including details on how to access and use the online portal.”
“Tablets allow engineers to view and update service history”
Adam Hubbard,
Director of Product Management,,
Precor
“Our extensive survey revealed it’s all about reliability, so the new Precor Experience Series treadmills incorporate a new motor drive system that draws fewer amps and improves internal cooling, which in turn increases the reliability of electronic components by four times.
“Another key addition is the brand new Active Status Light, which alerts facility staff and service technicians, at a glance, when service or maintenance is needed. It flashes yellow every 1,000 miles to indicate that maintenance is required.
“The new machines are simple to install and very easy to clean, avoiding small cracks that are difficult for the cleaning crew to reach. By incorporating feedback from service technicians, we’ve also ensured our new treadmills are even quicker to service, with common maintenance jobs such as replacing the belt or deck achievable in just 20 minutes or less.”
“The Active Light Status shows at a glance when a service is needed”
Susie Marriott,
Commercial Director,
Servicesport (UK)
“As an independent service provider, the more we know about what our customers have, the more predictable our parts stock can be.
“Our engineers have a hand-held device linked to our management system, and this allows them to capture data relating to the condition of the equipment – right down to detail like wear and tear on belts. Our parts stock is adjusted every time we start a new service agreement with a customer.
“We provide our customers with a service manual that shows them how to regularly clean and preventatively maintain their equipment in between their preventative maintenance service: it never costs as much to maintain equipment properly as it does to have a high number of reactive call-outs and a shortened life of equipment that hasn’t been looked after.”
“Preventative maintenance will save money”
Jeremy Jenkins,
MD,
SportsArt UK
“Service is one of the major reasons customers choose SportsArt. They can take delivery of equipment on the basis that, should any replacement parts be required, they’ll be delivered within 24 hours, and if an engineer needs to fit them, they’ll arrive within the following 24 hours.
“Our new warehouse has spare parts for every piece of equipment, so they can be shipped within hours of a client needing them. Most importantly, we’ve developed the SportsArt Customer Service Portal, which will shortly be launched on the UK website. The portal allows customers to order parts, book an engineer and use Live Chat to get advice.”
“Customers will be able to use Live Chat to get advice”
John Gamble,
Managing Director of EMEA,
Star Trac
“Equipment will break down, so it comes down to the speed of response. Our first-time fix rate is regularly at 95 per cent and our standard call-out time is just over 24 hours – well below the average of 48 hours in the UK. Our engineers have a critical parts list and appropriate spares on the van.
“The more problems you can fix first time, the more engineers you have to respond to other calls.
“Equipment quality is also vital. Take something like the bracket the pedals are attached to – a common thing to break. We produce 60,000 bikes a year and we haven’t had a single breakage to that part on any of them. If you get the quality right, then it frees up your engineers.”
“The more problems you fix first time, the more engineers you have to respond to other calls”
Margaret Vane,
UK Service Manager,
Life Fitness UK
“A poor experience can come at any stage within a process, so at Life Fitness we monitor all of our internal and field-based staff, the way in which they perform their roles and our overall service operating procedures.
“We’ve found that using service performance data in a more investigative manner has been particularly valuable, as it helps to highlight underlying factors that may exist within a customer’s own operating procedures. We’re then able to discuss these and work with customers to help ensure these issues can be minimised. This may involve offering simple documents for staff to use, setting up temporary courtesy visit schedules or giving additional maintenance instructions.”
“Service performance data is particularly valuable”
Alastair Watson,
Vice President Europe,
Keiser
“We’re constantly testing and updating so our equipment continues to be highly durable and maintenance-free. Most indoor cycles are designed to last around three years, but our M3 Bike easily surpasses that average by years.
“A big challenge facing clubs is the ability for them and their customers to download information, so with the new M3i, which launched earlier this year, we looked at a number of routes. That included USBs, but we discounted them because of breakage potential. The M3i is the first group-ex cycle with a Bluetooth wireless display, so it can be ‘partnered’ wirelessly with either a phone or tablet.”
“USBs have the potential to break, so we’ve used wireless technology”
Howard Swinyard,
Network and Services Director,
Technogym UK
“With customers increasingly looking to keep their assets for longer, service and maintenance and cost of ownership are bigger priorities than before. Service providers that can offer efficiency and dependability, as well as in-depth product knowledge, have the advantage.
“Recognising this, Technogym underpins all its service contracts with agreements that promise best-in-class time to service and first-time fix rate. We also invest heavily in product development to increase product reliability and durability.
“Clients can phone, email or book services round the clock through TG Direct, our online customer portal.”
“Companies that offer efficiency and dependability have the advantage”
