I regularly get asked by customers, why would I want a maintenance contract? To me the answer is simple, it’s like having an RAC or AA card, you want to know that when you’re stuck on the side of a motorway you will be rescued, and the company will fix your car and get you home safely. A maintenance contract works in a similar way. When your printer breaks down, usually when you have an urgent customer order to process, it’s as simple as placing a call. An engineer will talk you through the problem to see if it can be resolved over the phone. If this is not possible then an engineer will come out to your site within a specified time e.g. 4 hours, and fix your printer within a further 4 hours. This limits the downtime onsite, gets your printer working and keeps your company running. Ok but my printer is under warranty – why do I need a maintenance contract? Well you don’t, if you can afford not to print labels for one – two weeks or have a spare printer to hand while it is being repaired by the manufacturer. So for peace of mind and total assurance you can take out an onsite maintenance contract for a much smaller cost than a spare printer. Good maintenance also prolongs a printer’s life and reduces running costs. Prevention is always more economical than waiting for the printer to breakdown! We all appreciate the value of regular car servicing to keep it reliable, so consider adding preventative service to ensure your printer always performs at its best. Benefits of maintenance: • Guaranteed repair time to keep your printer and production line running • Immediate telephone support to resolve repairs quickly and efficiently • Technical expertise of engineering team • All standard parts and labour costs covered by the maintenance contract. • Printers repaired by fully qualified and accredited engineers What are the different types of maintenance contract? Maintenance contracts apply to a wide range of products including printers, handheld computers, scanners and software. They vary on the level of response you require: Onsite contracts; an engineer will visit your site and respond within a period of time that you choose which typically ranges from 4 hours, 8 hours to 5 days. The quicker the response the greater the cost, but consider the cost if your printer and production line fails! Hot swap contracts; ideal if you don’t need onsite support but require a next day replacement for your printer. Hot swap works simply by a replacement printer being sent to your site while the faulty printer is sent away for repair. A lower cost option than an onsite contract, with next day turnaround. Return to base contracts; ideal if don’t need next day support - options include 3 to 5 days. Simply courier your printer to the repair workshop and it will be fixed within a specified number of days. This is ideal for lower cost desktop and mid-range printers that are not mission critical or where you have a stock of spare printers. Return to base is not recommended for larger, industrial printers because it is not always easy to find packaging to ensure that the printer is not damaged in transit. To enquire about maintenance contracts or preventative maintenance, call our sales office on 01536 414222 or visit our website www.amlabels.co.uk