We’re rebuilding a lot of engines at the moment, with MTUs, a Cat 3306, a Deutz F10L 513M and a Cummins KTA50 to name a few.
But in addition to the rebuilds, we’ve recently been invited to bid for several long-term maintenance contracts.
These are multi-engine contracts, which give a great opportunity to form a long-term relationship with operators, enabling us to work together to make some real improvements to reliability, safety and performance.
And whilst reviewing all of these tenders, something has become very clear:
There are two consistent challenges facing a lot of operators out there.
The first problem comes with the age of the equipment. If you are relying on an engine over 30 years old, the chances are the owners of the manufacturer has changed. When this happens, new owners are often focused on their own ideas and products.
As a result, the knowledge and support for the older equipment diminish and whilst the engine population reduces, so does the spares supply.
The solution is to have a far-reaching spares option. Just because the engine manufacturer has limited support, it could still be possible to go to the company who may have made the parts for the engine manufacturer.
You would also be surprised how many parts are out there in independent companies’ stores, or even in containers sat in yards!
Next time, I’ll share the second problem with these contract requirements, but in the meantime, let me know any difficulties you may be having for support of older engines.
