Ratio of copier/technicians

[MrLoupsy]

Hello,

My boss keeps telling me that we are overtech and that we are too much to take care of our copier park.

We are 6 technicians for around 850 machines under contract.

What is your ratio of copiers/tech

Thanks

[KenB]

The number of machines per tech, by itself, means very little if anything.

The volumes that are being run, models of machines, and geographical proximities all factor in.

For instance, a tech who has to drive a half hour or so between calls may be lucky to do 4 calls in a day, where his coworker who covers 200 machines in a hospital may be underworked if he does 8 calls a day.

Also, a tech who does all color machines (especially the higher end machines), will do fewer calls in a day.

Territory management is a science unto itself. I know that our managers and team leaders seem to discuss it weekly.

[tmaged]

Ken is correct. Another big factor can be if you sell all new or do you do refurbished ? New machines will require less maint than refurbished. Like Ken said, color vs mono, geographical spread, do they do IT support also.

[MrLoupsy]

We cover from canon IR1025 to IR C1, doing some HP Edgeline in the middlle of this and service a radius of 50 miles.

[OMD-227]

I agree totally with Ken.

I work strictly on color & top-end b/w machines and generally get my 5 calls done per day, but many of the other guys easily get aound 10 jobs done per day. It totally depends on areas & machines covered by each tech.

I have heard of the 'magic number' mentioned a few times over the years though..... Ideally it should be 1 million pages per year per tech. You gather all total counters for the entire year of all your machines, and divide it by how many techs you have. If the answer is alot less that 1million, you are over-staffed. If the answer is way above 1million, you are under-staffed and need extra techs.
Thats not my figures.... that is just something I have heard when this subject rears its ugly head.
I have also seen cases where companies will employ 1 new tech for every 100 new machines sold. That to me is overkill.

If you can get all your jobs done, with little stress and complete each call properly, not just cleaning the covers etc etc, then your tech numbers are OK. If you are sitting around having a sleep under a tree waiting for new calls, then you are probably over staffed.

[racefreak]

I agree. It all depends on the machines supported and the geographical area. I work on only the high end color in print shops (both commercial and private). I have 52 machines in an area where I can travel 2 1/2 hours on the highway from one end to the other. Some days I have nothing to do. Others I need help.

[jonhiker]

Numbers, numbers, numbers. There are a lot of factors to this ratio and it is constantly being adjusted, The high volume team carries less machines than the low volume, etc. We have done our best on the geography part, but the downtown guy that parks and walks or drives a mile gets more done then the person in the suburbs or the country.

[SmellsHot]

Hey guys, I'd like to revisit this question.
I know there are a lot of variables, just curious what your current ratio of tech to contract machines are at your company.
We service a few different lines from desktop printers to 80ppm machines(no production). Right now we have 2.5 techs and 700 machines. Our territory goes about 90 minutes out from our store.
Just curious what everyone else is doing
Thanks!

[allan]

Good topic.
And one that frustrates me at one company doing 300 machines was a breeze no pirate stuff and no restriction to the amount of toner i can drop at once.
This company 250 machines is an uphill battle.
We are 3 techs and one manager/installer doing about 700 machines.
Growing at about 3 machines a week.

One thing i can say that reduces the call rate the most is boot stock, cleaning waste boxes on site and dropping enough toner at once and doing minimal call procedures.
Had this tech per machine chat with the guy i work for, boy do i regret that...
So he is close to losing me here....

[Copeya]

Just looked at mine and im at 198 machines that account for 3.5 mil pages
It sucks.