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I feel like we needed a place to talk about our concerns and not have to be concerned about the general public reading our topics. I will screen all requests for membership to this group to ensure that users are really Independent Service Providers (ISP's). Please let me know if you have any questions or reservations about using this format to communicate.
I am just looking for better ways for us to increase our business presence with our customers (the manufactures are our customers also) and possibly increase each others profit margin. We can do this by sharing ideas, parts sourcing, refering each other (how many times has a customer asked you if you know anyone in that area?) and presenting a common face to the manufactures on our concerns.
I hope to meet alot of new contacts through this forum, and look forward to working with all of you in the years to come.
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Have you guys had any one man show repair companys trying to rear there ugly heads in your area?It seems like anyone who knows which way to turn a screwdriver thinks they can fix Exercise equipment. Id love to hear some other thoughts on this.
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That is always going to happen, you just have to make sure customers know what the difference is between you and the new guy (company). Does he have 10 years of experience? Is he factory authorized by Star Trac, Precor, Life Fitness, Nautilus, etc.? Also, naming some of your high profile customers wouldn't hurt. Your prices are probably higher than his, alot of customers will pay the higher prices if they know that they're getting value, all you have to do is show them what that value is.
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Increase Margins? Pardon my newness....I was an electronics engineer for Johnson Health Tech NA, parent company to Matrix Fitness, Vision Fitness, Horizon, Tempo, Evolve, Johnson, Triumph and other brand names of fitness gear. We have been repairing/refurbishing motor control boards and some styles of uppers for a decade now since leaving Johnson.
I have 36yrs in electronics manufacturing, design, service as well as experience operating a repair facility, including IPC certified rework, refurbing obsolete items, reverse engineering PCB's, schematic generation and other fun things.
I saw from the inside of this industry, how things work from the manufacturer's view. Then a decade of seeing the service sector side of things.
When we would design a motor controller, we might spec a part rated at 75A @ 200vdc as a main FET switch, but often, when designs move to productions, things are costed down to maximize profits per acreage of PCB's. This is an important note, as most other repair facilities like the main 3 or 4 in this industry in the US right now, do not have this knowledge or background! Our refurbished parts will indeed have that original spec part in the main switch spot, and not that IRFP260 rated at 35A, but instead a 75A switch(STW75n200). This upgrading is also done on all ADT Drives used by Precor, Cybex, Magnum and Stex, as in the cube sized Precor IFT, Cybex Cube. These ADT Drives have a design issue that leads to a 24-36 month failure time-frame. Any-servicer that has replaced many Precor IFT controllers will know of the odd "shuttering and jerking" of a failing controller with the Precor c956i set to 1.8mph and when that unit decelerates.
This design issue is corrected for in our refurbished units, which will also last nearly twice as long as one could expect a new unit to last.
Please, consider this for the service sector. A Precor c956i Motor Controller, the IFT part number 48691-xxx and many other parts like this, are about $700 new, half that for big distributors, and less than a quarter of the new cost for a newly refurbished, stronger than original, motor controller? That drives a bottom line in a fast way.....and keeps our warranty rates low. Then, exchanges available, you carry the part out, save a return trip, and make a good margin on a better part!
Please let me know the rules of letting folks know of our fantastic repairs, refurbs and services on this site to respect the rules and play nicely.You can also find me on other electronics and technical forums as IamJatinah.
I will also keep posting help for users as I can and I thank you all for the Forum! greg
