Repair Services – is it B.E.R.?

Equipment repair decisions – the Customer’s right!

Customers with critical infrastructure networks have elements that fail from time-to-time. These can usually be swapped out with items from a spare parts stock, to return the system to operational service with the minimum of disruption to overall system availability. 

The question then arises of whether the failed item can be repaired. In most circumstances, it is possible to restore parts to working condition, but sometimes they are classified as ‘Beyond Economic Repair’ (B.E.R.). This can be a somewhat contentious issue.

In theory, the term should be only applied to items where the repair cost would exceed the price of the purchase of a new or refurbished replacement. However, on the one hand the term can be used to label something that physically cannot be restored e.g. due to fire or water damage. On the other, it’s often applied to items where no repair facilities exist or it’s not possible to easily source the required components to complete the remedial work. So in other words, the term is used instead of the negative-sounding ‘repair not possible’.

The reason why this can become a source of frustration is because some customers rightly insist that they should be the “one who decides” if the item is ‘B.E.R.’. Maybe for reliability statistical reasons or version compatibility, it is sometimes desired to retain the original part even if repair costs are high. Sometimes, legacy replacement spare parts are in very short supply, and so it makes sense to retain and refurbish items rather than scraping and losing them forever. Even if the short-term associated costs are greater, for products that are no longer being manufactured, the available ‘spares pool’ is finite and diminishing over time and so the decision to repair may avoid longer-term supply issues in the future.

Reduce – Reuse – Recycle

Most customers have implemented their private network infrastructure systems over a number of years, and for many their operational requirements have not changed. Consequently, it makes more sense both financially and environmentally to maintain these systems rather than embark on complete change-outs.

@YellowsBestLtd helps Customers with their operational needs, and one aspect is to #Reduce the demand for avoidable whole-scale replacements through a combination of #Reuse of refurbished spares and repair of system elements. When removal and disposal of no-longer serviceable infrastructure parts is necessary, we can also assist with the resale and #Recycle for ‘value recovery’ of valuable materials.

We can assist by supplying critical and hard-to-find spare parts and hardware repair services, even when the systems have been declared ‘obsolete’ (i.e. no longer in production) by the O.E.M. And we will endeavour to ensure that repair options are always available and the question of B.E.R. is up to the Customer to decide. Please let us know how we can help; we look forward to hearing from you.