ForConstructionPros.com

When you think about it, the service department is the heart of your rental business. It is there that new life is breathed into old equipment, where broken items are repaired and made new again, where all pieces of equipment find common ground. Just like a heart, your shop never stops working. There is always something coming in, and something going out.

As important as your service department is, have you ever given much thought to how it could be made better? More productive? Safer? Just what do you need to make your shop run like a top?

Perhaps nothing is more frustrating for a service manager than not having the tools needed to do the job at hand. One of the first tools any service department needs is qualified personnel, who are drawn to service departments with modern tools to work with.

Electrical testing

The types of equipment needed for your service department will depend on what types of repairs you will be performing. For instance, if you are going to repair electrical equipment, a hi-pot tester and an armature growler are must-haves. They will allow you to ensure the electrical items you are renting are safe and performing as they should.

As a product is returned from rental, it must receive a careful visual examination. “On electrical products, the key inspection areas should be the strain relief, as its failure is the single most likely item to result in an electrocution,”says Marc Sotcher with Sotcher Measurement Inc.