RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Most County Councils that purchase a Roadmaster® SIP machine anticipate that the machine will be in operation for 15 years. They consider the return on investment over 15 years to be a very good outcome. However, it is not unusual for some of our most established customers to continue using that same machine well into double decades. Cork County Council for example, have 20 Roadmaster® machines now working on their roads. They tell us these Roadmasters are constantly in demand across the region. Tipperary, Monaghan and Wexford councils have machines celebrating their 21st birthdays. How do they do it?
THE ROLE OF MAINTENANCE
Superior maintenance is the key. Most councils are very good at maintaining their own machines to a good standard. They work hard to make sure that the machines are in good working order. They have skilled mechanics and engineers available to work on them and their results normally are very good. Consider however, that the Archway Roadmaster machine is built in a custom designed factory in Jamestown, Co. Leitrim. The factory has specialist tools and machines available to not only maintain but to recondition Roadmaster® machines. This type of maintenance can only be done in the factory by those who built the machine. It simply isn’t possible to get this type of result anywhere but home base.
WHY MAINTAIN YOUR ROADMASTER WITH ARCHWAY?
What does the Roadmaster® Machine Maintenance offer (that a council can’t?)
Most local authority machinery yards have facilities for doing standard maintenance. In Archway we have specialist machinery to carry out reconditioning of the entire system. When you send a machine back to the original product manufacturer for specialist maintenance it increases the efficiency of the entire machine this in turn increases the efficiency of the machines patching and the longevity of the repairs carried out by that machine. In the factory, the mechanics can get to parts of the machine that benefit from TLC that standard maintenance just cannot reach. The Hopper, the boom, the PLC software, the auxiliary engine on older machines are some of the parts that need specialist equipment and factory maintenance can produce superior results.
For example:
- The Hopper: daily wear and tear often causes cracks internally. When the machine comes for factory maintenance in Archway, the full hopper is cleaned out and any cracks are repaired.
- The PLC is another key component of Archway maintenance, as standard while undergoing and maintenance in Jamestown, the PLC is checked. This allows the team to make sure it is working optimally and update any software that will increase the efficiency of the machine.
- Older machines, pre 2015 will still be operating with a donkey engine. This engine also gets some specialised maintenance which cannot be done effectively outside of the factory setting.
- The boom and head are key elements of the Roadmaster® and in the workshop they can be modified and repaired to the equivalent of a new fitment.
How long does a Roadmaster® manufacturer service take?
HOW LONG DOES A ROADMASTER SERVICE TAKE?
A Roadmaster Manufacture service normally takes about 1 week. That doesn’t mean you need to do without your Roadmaster for that week. When the maintenance is pre-booked, Archway will provide a replacement Roadmaster® to your fleet for the duration of the repairs! This means there is no downtime when your machine is maintained by Archway.