Standalone Field Service:
The old model of reactive maintenance. A problem occurs, you call us, we determine what we need to bring, and come out. You pay our parts, expenses and labor.
We still do this. But we are starting to organize customers in two ways- service tours, and yearly preventive maintenance, below.
Yearly PM:
Hospitals are familiar with this concept already. For our market, it is a particularly helpful idea.
This model, in our case, is driven by the tiny market we serve. Our market is so small, that the only direct competition for Medlink microscopes, went out of production around 2000. Medlink is the only manufacturer that still serves all, and only, the needs of reconstructive microsurgeons. Consequently, ML Services is too small to have representatives away from our home office.
The solution is to be proactive. We will be happy to check on your unit regularly. When we do, we will fix everything. We always find at least five times the problems that are reported by the nurses. If we come out yearly, the nurses will never have to contend with any of those problems. The odds of you needing more work before the next time we come out, are much smaller.
Consider; long experience has taught us that the only moment that customers discover a failure in a Medlink, is right before the anastomosis, when the surgeon needs it. It is just a reality. Almost every instance like this can be prevented. Please schedule yearly PM’s with us.
Service tours:
We recommend that every Medlink customer get a spot on a service tour. A service tour is a road trip, a loose loop around a section of North America, visiting as many Medlink units as possible. This cuts expenses dramatically- customers no longer have to pay for a full flight out, car rental and the inevitable extra time bracketing a scheduled service call. They only have to pay for a fraction of the travel expenses, because those are shared among many hospitals. A visit could cost up to $2000 less than if we had scheduled a standalone trip.
Assembly swaps:
These must be ordered in advance; we do not yet stock remanufactured assemblies. The process usually culminates in a service call, when we install the new assembly and take home the old one. This process can be integrated into a service tour or a PM.
Footswitches. Basically a set of newly remanufactured footswitches, using all the latest practices, in exchange for your ugly ones.
Column. Older columns eventually freeze up with dried grease. The field solution involves evil solvents that are not legal to check with our baggage. So now we will swap your column for a latest revision, freshly built one. We’ll do all that dirty work at the shop, and you enjoy your new column.
Arm. Old Medlink arm brakes were OK in their time, but the ones we have been shipping this millennium are so much better. They are ten times stronger, smoother, and take just two fingers to work. They are awesome. They come with a freshly built and finished arm. We take your old one home.
Control Panel: The latest control panel has an extra selector position that didn’t exist before. This opens up one more avenue to achieve intuitive XY motion during a procedure.