Jam Frequency

as a sales guy, i don't think that 0% is the target, however, i do believe that service should anticipate the jams and get there prior to it happening.

If the machines are well maintained with Ricoh supplies and parts and kept at the target volume, they (ours) generally go from PM to PM. Maybe 1 call in between.
But is for instance a Gest 5502 is run at 2k a month, you will be there a half dozen times for CQ/Jams. Or a 2212 at more than 25K and you'll be clearing jams and replaceing fuser a half dozen times between PMs.
Generally, these machines rum very well. Also I hve noticed that if the morale in the office is low the mchine takes the heat.

I'm in sales, heres what is acceptable to me. The customer not calling me to tell me about a paper misfeeds. Once I get the call I believe the problem is past the "once every so often" jam.

Digital copiers should rarely misfeed when using a dood quality of paper. Analog, seemed to have more misfeeds in the accessories (thank goodness thoase days are over!).

If you want more I believe Ricoh publishes a MTBF rate for the new digital systems.

Art

It all comes down to the customer precession of the equipment and service they receive. The occasional jam is all right, but how quickly service can respond and repair the problem is the key. So, what is acceptable? What ever is tolerable to the customer or dealer.

Neal, what planet are you from?

Jomama,

When I go to a machine, I check the total prints since last call, and the total jams since last call (among other things) and determine if the machine is performing at an acceptable level, considering lots of things like # of operators, environment, correct volume for equipment etc. Are you saying that your equipment runs from PM to PM with no jams? I need to know your secret!!

I think also that what is tolerable to the customer and service dept has something to do with it, but my theory, as the owner of the company, is that even though the customer may not place a service call at a certain jam frequency, they will decrease their use of the equipment. In other words, the better the machine runs the more clicks.

THANKS guys!
Chris

beachcopy, there are no absolutes.(Except w/ orange juice) But we agree that the right volume and care levels are imprtant to the MCBF. My secret is keeping the machine clean and the customer kept informed on its operation.
We have some (and I'm talking digital models from the last 3 years) that literly go from PM to PM. We have a few that were sold in the wrong envirnment and we upgrade where we can. Downgrading where necessary? I dont think so! We just bite the bullet and do the calls. Copiers have quirks, mostly related to copy quality but also paper feed. For instance, Legal and Ledger may rarely be used in a certain office but since they have the cassette they will load it. 6 mos down the line they try it and it jams. Everytime the machine is on, the trays are raised and sometimes stay raised for paper feed. If the paper is never fed or it takes a long time to go thru a full pack, the paper will take on the shape of an slope instead of straight and jams and skews result.
This is the keep the customer informed part.

here are the facts about paper jams. if machines are maintained properly they will not jam, that is if clutches and feed tires are working well. most paper jams are caused by the customer them selves by either changing paper sizes with out making the nessessary adjustments in the cassette ie. fences and size indicators. paper jams CAN NOT be anticipated the tech, and only someone with no understanding of how machines work would make such a statement

Jomama and DScott,

I agree that both keeping machines clean and customer knowledgeable is Key, along with performing PM's on schedule. I guess everyone (including me) is a bit hesitant to put a NUMBER to the question of jam frequency that is acceptable. We all have SOME equipment that will "go PM to PM".Let's remove the top 10% of the performers, and remove the bottom 10% of performers, and come up with a jam frequency #!
You go first, and I'll give my rule of thumb.

I am pretty sure Neal was kidding about the preemptive jam removal call.

I like this site.

The "I need a sales mgr" article hit home. Its Saturday I'm at work, need sales help,its beautiful day outside, wife and kid are at beach. Article didn't really have any solution though!
Chris

If neal was kidding, Im pretty sure I was too!
Beach, Even if we assume all good PMs, supplies,talking to customers, if you knock out the top 10-20% we are back to all the varible stuff. like volume, key op availability. These can be all over the place. I dont think you can put a number on it. But if my back was to the wall I would say that a less than 30cpm machine with no connected components whuld not require more than 2 service vists between PMs.
I would be on the case if a machine was higher than this. And as I stated before, there may be nothing you can do about it. I recall a 3532 I installed and had to baby sit it for about 3 weeks. Lines during DF copying. A real and true problem that took a few vists to really fix. The problem after that was that anytime the customer got dirt on the scan glass, they thought it was the same problem.
I knew that their perception was the problem, so for several visits and on arrival I would take the "complaintant" to the machine, show them I understood what they were talking about, then clean the glass and show them it was gone.
As I said, it took a number of vists to convince them. So the first "to PM was about 15 calls. The 2nd to 3rd lasted about 5 mos and was 1 call.
I hope I havent cursed myself by talking about it.
I work almost every Sat anyway, its the only time the phone doesnt ring and I can get things done. No kids at home anymore and if I was home, the wife would see that I really work!
My boss, the owner,on the other hand, spends 7 days a week down here, never takes a vacation or a day off.
I dont think it takes that to be successful, but different strokes...

yup, i do bulieve i wuz kiddin. I have been blessed with an excellent service staff and have very few "problem child" systems out there. my first thought on a problem with a system is to look at the initial training that was done and look to making sure the customer was properly trained. it's likely that a fair amount of times that this takes care of the "problems" Saturday? wow...i may work 60 hours a week, but the Saturday work is usually paperwork from home.

Hey Guys,
Happy Monday!
I promise this is my last post on this subject!
Jomama, I think that you and I are talking about different things. I'm talking about the jam history, or JAMS between PM's, vs CALLS between PM's. I absolutely like my machines to run with no calls between PM's, but I still check jams between PM's. In other words, I'm checking out the actual performance of the equipment VS the perceived performance, so as to get a benchmark.
OK last post on that.
Later, Chris