How To Become A Successful Repairman: Top Tips

Working with your hands and knowing a craft is not as esteemed a position nowadays as it once was, as more and more of us have been drawn into white-collar occupations, dealing with theory and not practice. This is a shame, as without these craftsmen everything around us would quickly collapse, break down, stay unrepaired, and the like. Someone who understands how certain things work, what makes them, well, not work, and how to fix them is invaluable. Of course, becoming a professional in the field is no easy task, it takes hard work, attention, and stamina to see through, no matter the area of expertise you choose. However, there are also general tips and tricks you can remember that should help you on the journey, and beyond. 

Label your Equipment

Let’s start off with something small, almost obvious, but you would be surprised how the most obvious little things get completely forgotten in the chaos of larger factors and the like. So, the very first thing you want to do is label all your equipment. Tools, machines, materials, replacements, things like phenolic products—all of it—just label them. Technicians can often waste precious repair and diagnostic time struggling to correctly identify the faulty part if proper labels or tags aren’t in place. Clearly labeled equipment allows maintenance crews to quickly find their tools, replacement components, machines, and the like when issues arise. The labels should clearly display the equipment names, models, and/or serial numbers at the very least. As your assets age and parts need replacing, be sure to update the tags to reflect the new configurations. You also want to make labeling a priority when new machinery is installed. Don’t let assets operate for months or even years before you add proper tags, as upkeep histories can grow quite long in the interim. Also, keep the labels protected but also handy for quick and easy maintenance access. 

Collect Equipment Data

While the physical equipment labels are going to help you in real-time repairs, smart data collection will provide you with crucial insights into assets over time. Try and maintain thorough hard, or to fit with the times, digital copy equipment files that you and your technicians can reference whenever the need arises. Upload all the manuals, photos, spec sheets, operating procedures, and warranty info so you can call them back up whenever you need. What this data accumulation does is help you and the organizations you link up with decide on spending for maintenance, inventory needs, and timelines for capital replacement. Even if current maintenance practices seem stable and sufficient, do not stop collecting data, you will need it in the future.

Inspect Routinely

Remember to consistently and routinely inspect, or have your personnel inspect, your equipment per a designated timeline. Frequently having your equipment well-inspected can detect problems in advance before any shutdowns are caused. Inspect components thoroughly every time and have any concerns documented, regardless of how minor and unimportant they may seem at first glance, as things have a way of quickly snowballing out of control, and identifying and rectifying problems before you may have to face catastrophic failures is simply common sense. So, prevent, before having to go through painful cures.

Clean Up

This is another very obvious concept, but when looking at your average workshop, or garage, working bench, or the like, it might be shocking to see just how not clean these spaces can be. While it may not seem like a big deal, clutter and chaos will have you wandering around, digging through piles of nothing to find one tool you just had in your hands. Keeping a clean work area is one of the easiest, simplest things you can do to increase general productivity and reduce expenses for your company. This will also help with reducing the number of lost items, and it will be much easier to simply keep track of parts and tools if your workspace is clean and well-organized. Plus, you also want your customers to have a positive impression of you and your company. A neat and orderly working space projects professionalism and discipline, and your customers will pick up on this. 

Check New Parts

Whenever you receive replacement parts, be sure to thoroughly look them over to make sure you actually have the correct parts and that they are not damaged in any way. To help with tracking parts, you can use a marker to highlight the parts listed on the paperwork, and as you receive new parts, simply cross them off in red, or green, or whatever color you choose. This means you can check the paperwork with a glance to see which parts you already have, which you still need, which are not the right parts, which are damaged, and so on. It also helps your team get to the information easily when you are not available. Again, very simple, easy, but very effective.

Enforce Safety

Sadly, this is a principle that is too often ignored in many places, for convenience, or more profit, or the like, but you should absolutely not skip over safety protocols. The safety of you and your team is the first priority, and is integral to maintenance planning. Post signs and procedures around your equipment to clearly communicate all safety protocols. Have any potential hazards highlighted with warning labels and be sure to enforce all the proper precautions. Any time spent on the internet will have you see absolutely horrific working accidents happen, which could have often been all too easily prevented, making them all the more tragic. Do not let it go that far if you can help it.

Becoming a professional means work and commitment, and there are no shortcuts or easy routes you can take, but there are things and tricks you can use to make your life and your work easier, less complicated, and more fulfilling. There are certainly too many to put into one list, but these are a good start to get you going.