Hi Phil!

I just talked with our maintenance tech again. There seems that there
was some confusion between him and the spares person at DEK. It seems
for some reason maintenance tech WAS quoted the conversion. 

He said he told DEK that he just needed the clamps, and then asked the
person from DEK to verify that the price for the clamps had really gone
up that much. He told him that the last time he bought them they were
only $184. The person from DEK told him that the price was correct.
That's when my tech came to me and told me that the clamps had gone up
over ten-fold! I just about s#%t!

So I apologize for my rant earlier...

-Steve Gregory-

-----Original Message-----
From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Phil Zarrow
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2006 1:49 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [TN] Dek Printer

 
Hi  all, 
Steve  presented an interesting situation regarding the cost of the 
replacement parts  for his printer.  Being a fellow veteran "equipment
guy" he accurately points out that supporting and older  machine is a
bit more expensive.  

I looked in the situation with the front door cover strut and,
apparently, as a result of time, inflation and, most importantly, lower
volume purchases 
(since that part is no longer used in current equipment), the price has
gone up. 
 

As one of my hobbies is keeping some older sports cars alive and
running, I 
have run into this syndrome quite a bit and empathize with both sides.

The Edge Clamp Foil dilemma boggled my mind. I had to look into this - 
inquiring minds want to know. As it turns out, one of my clients
recently 
undertook some upgrade work to their older DEK  printer. I inquired
about the prices they encountered and the aforementioned clamps were
$217 (where, as Steve mentioned, they were previously $184). Not too
bad. However, a complete upgrade from the original system to a quick
change clamp system cost (a year ago) $1284. That's more like it. Again,
that was a year ago, though, and I suspect the conversion costs even
more now - again lower demand and volume purchased, not to mention our
fragile dollar). And at least they were in stock!  

K Jaworenko's experience with having to wait 32 weeks for replacement 
parts from an equipment supplier is deplorable. 


Maybe I'm too  altruistic, but I really don't think (and hope) that the
more 
reputable equipment manufacturers have to resort to gouging on spares to

coerce us to buy newer machines. Certainly, some seem to have their acts

together better than others. Of course our experiences, both in use and
support with these manufacturers will influence our next purchasing
decision just as much as their specifications will and they are aware of
that. But, speaking as someone who spent a lot of time on the equipment
side, supporting older machines both in terms of spares and retrofits is
a tough part of the business. 


One further suggestion when contemplating a used piece of equipment and 
calling the OEM's  field service department and chatting with a field
service tech. Besides being the guys who actually work on the machines,
most field service techs are opinionated and tell it like it is - good
or bad.  (Sometimes they can be the "anit-salesman"). To use my
automotive analogy again, if you're considering buying a used
automobile, who better than a mechanic to tell you what's good and what
to watch out for? Again, caveat emptor, indeed.

 
Phil  Zarrow 
ITM  Consulting 
Durham,  NH  USA
_www.ITMconsulting.org_ (http://www.ITMconsulting.org)  


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