Johnson Lift/Hyster

Honesty

Educate the customer on what repairs are needed and why:
When receiving forklift repairs, your advisor should: 1: Help you understand the problem, diagnose the cause and advise you of the cost and time of repairs. 2: Inform you of any other problems noticed while inspecting your forklift and advise of the cost to repair. 3: Inform you of the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance based on the year/hours of your forklift. Note: Each step in the repair process should be explained in an understandable way (avoiding the "tech talk" that some shops use).

Don’t do work that isn’t needed:
Nothing should be done to your forklift without your approval. This way you know exactly what repairs are being done and how much it will cost before you receive your bill. Ensure the honesty of your technicians by making sure they’ve signed, and copies are available of their "Personal Honesty Letters’.

No high-pressure sales tactics:
Getting your forklift serviced should not be a high-pressured ordeal. After all it is your forklift and your decision on what repairs should be done. In addition, when you have your forklift serviced, you should be asked to fill out a Customer Service Evaluation Card describing the service you received. These cards should be mailed to the facility’s management to ensure that your concerns and suggestions for improvements or praise for fine work can be taken to the decision-makers.

Don’t pay for repairs covered under warranty:
When your forklift is being repaired, all maintenance should be done without impairing the manufacturer’s warranty. Each repair under warranty should be noted and given in writing to the vehicle owner.

Fix It Right

Proper diagnosis-gathering info and troubleshooting:
To properly diagnose your vehicle’s problem, standardized Diagnostic Questionnaires should be available to gather all necessary information. Ask to see the standards for the performance of a diagnostic. Diagnostic results should be explained to you simply using the 3-C’s: Complaint, Cause and Cure. If a technician can’t diagnose within 2 hours, they need to consult with management and senior technicians immediately, not waste your time or money.

CERTECH Certified Technicians:
Don’t be mislead by the Certifications hanging in most Forklift repair facilities. Be certain that ALL technicians at your Forklift repair facility are Certified. Each Certification earned shows competency in a different area of forklift repair. A CERTECH Master Technician has eight (*) different Certifications. Make sure your repair shop has their technicians’ certifications displayed, showing they have people competent in all areas of forklift repair. Any worker that is not certified should only be considered an Apprentice, performing supervised repairs, until they have met the required standard for their facility.

Ongoing training for technicians:
Continuing education for all technicians is vital in ensuring the top quality repairs that you should expect from your repair facility. An Apprentice Technician Program to help train new workers to meet the standards set at their facility is one effective way of assuring continued top quality service. Ask your Forklift repair facility to demonstrate their training schedule and training curriculum.

Advanced technology and equipment to diagnose drivability problems:
Ask your repair facility what equipment is available to fix your forklift. Expect them to have scopes, emissions analyzers, leak detection equipment, electronic databases, and more. However, any forklift repair facility can provide the most current diagnostic equipment. The most important piece of equipment in fixing your vehicle is still an experienced technician. The best repair facilities are the ones that have a group of experienced technicians who know how to use the equipment and the information provided by it. These technicians help each other by sharing their experience and expertise, forming a huge information pool available to everyone to use in solving your forklifts problem. There should be a process in place that allows all technicians to quickly and efficiently communicate with each other to access certain areas of specialty. Ask your Forklift repair facility to provide you detail on how this process works.

Use the best parts for the job-four types (new, remanufactured, rebuilt, used):
Your Forklift repair facility should guarantee all aftermarket parts to be equal to or better than OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) parts. They must always tell you in advance if they plan to use parts that are used, rebuilt or remanufactured.

Warranty all repairs:
Expect your Repair Facility to have al least a 6 month/1,000 hour warranty on both parts and labor (whichever comes first).

Post-repair testing-pre-customer release:
To ensure that the Technician understands the problems and that the problems have been solved, there should be a test drive before the repairs are made (whenever possible) and again once they are finished. Before the forklift is returned, a service advisor or manager should be present to explain all the repairs and answer any questions.

Post-repair customer follow-up:
All customers should receive timely follow-up letters after the service or repair has been done so that the customer can respond to the service they received. Ask your Forklift repair facility for examples of what is sent out, ensuring that this process is done consistently.

Accountability:
Customer Service Evaluation Cards should be provided to all customers and reviewed weekly to determine a customer satisfaction rating for each technician and service advisor. In addition, the number of customer problems should be tracked for each technician and the results used in performance evaluations.

Fix It On Time

One stop shopping:
Your Forklift repair facility should be able to perform any repairs or services your forklift needs. You should never have to take your forklift to another repair shop for any part of the repairs.

Large facilities which have room to handle the job:
Each repair facility should be large enough (approximately 15,000 sq. ft.) and have enough equipment (about 10 service bays) so that they can handle your forklift repair in a timely manner. At Johnson Lift/Hyster we have over 65,000 square feet of dedicated shop space located at our 5 branch locations.

Adequate Staffing:
Your repair facility should be manned with enough technicians, lead by a CERTECH Master technician, to guarantee a timely repair of your forklift. There should be a process to transfer equipment from one branch to another, with no travel time, insuring responsible use of resources to get your forklift repaired quickly and efficiently. A manager must be on duty at all times and have the authority to handle any issues that may arise. There should also be staff dedicated to shuttle customers, pick up parts, and to provide all of the customer service extras, within a reasonable amount of time, that your shop has promised.

Unique workflow systems to achieve timely repairs:
Your forklift repair facility should have a process to efficiently handle repairs as quickly as possible by identifying functions for each person. This gives managers time to make sure all activities are coordinated. In addition, your repair facility should work closely with their warehouse/distributor parts supplier to establish quick, accurate delivery of parts, and have at least $3,000,000 + in inventory, stocked responsibly at all branches to expedite completion of repairs.

Don’t overcharge/Total cost of repair should be competitive:
Your repair facility should use an industry approved published labor guide with standard times needed for a technician to perform a repair. Hourly labor rates should be posted and the total cost for any repair must be competitive when compared to other forklift repair facilities. When comparing competitive proposals, your forklift repair facility should be able to quickly point out any differences in the service or repair being offered. This will give you the peace of mind needed to make a responsible comparison and decision.

Know the total cost before job begins:
All repairs must be approved, by you, in advance! Before any work is done to correct a problem, your repair facility should tell you exactly what the price is and what they will be fixing. With the complexity of today’s forklifts, many repairs are no longer mechanical or electrical, but electronic. You may be asked, especially on intermittent drivability problems, to approve necessary repairs to start. If this occurs, you should be informed why, what and how much the contingent repairs are that may be necessary after the first repair is done and the vehicle is retested. Today on the many repairs that are not straightforward, the real key is that your repair facility gets you involved in the decisions that need to be made in determining how to proceed with the repair on your vehicle. it’s your forklift…it’s your money…you should be included in deciding what is the best course of action in repairing your forklift by using the expert opinion of your forklift technician. If your repair shop cannot explain the repair to your satisfaction, take your forklift to another shop.

Don’t exceed quoted price without approval:
No customer should be surprised by the amount of their bill. We are all human and mistakes can happen when ordering parts or even adding up the estimate. Your repair facility may also find that additional repairs are necessary, as noted above, after they have completed the first repair. You must approve any change to your estimate, in advance.

Customer Service

No appointment necessary:
Expect your forklift repair facility to have the means to work with you, even without an appointment, and repair your forklift in a timely manner, even with their current workload. You can’t always schedule when your forklift needs repairs.

Convenient hours of operation:
Does your shop provide full-service repairs on weekends as well as the rest of the workweek? Do they accommodate your schedule with a simple, 24/7 policy with a detailed communication plan? Do they care about fixing your forklift the same day it was scheduled for repair? Or do their technicians quit working at 4:00 o’clock?

Free Forklift Rental:
When you leave your forklift to be serviced, you should expect a free forklift rental if the repair exceeds the quoted time. Some repairs have legitimate reasons for taking more than the quoted amount of time. If this happens, rentals should be provided at a preferred rate.

Special services and offers for regular customers:
Does your repair shop show their appreciation for your loyalty by offering special programs, incentives, and savings to customers who use their service on a regular basis? These programs could include:

• The Preferred Customer Care Card
• The Executive Forklift Maintenance Card
• The Forklift Operator Protection Program

*Ask your Aftermarket Representative for details

The purpose of the "Code of Ethics & Competency" Consumer Protection Program is to protect you from questionable forklift repair facilities and the faulty workmanship of their technicians. *It provides the consumer with the education necessary to demand that their Forklift repair facility provide honest and skilled work. In addition, it provides the documentation necessary to prove that their technicians are competent which assures you that your vehicle will be fixed right, the first time. If your forklift repair shop doesn’t meet these standards, your best option is to continue to look for one that does.