Some barcode tips For the shelfs in the unit, put the barcodes labels on Magnetic "Tape". Makes it easy to reorganize without having to reprint the labels. Not sure if you keep stock in the vans. If you are, maybe make each van a location named by the license plate. Use dedicated barcode scanner in the van or a phone scanner app, so employees can move stock straight to the costumers bill. Print and laminate the van barcodes on paper sheets. Makes it easy to do stock from front seat in the van.
When I worked in London installing cable television we would get out stock from the stock controller including set top boxes and stock, if you can afford it hire a stock controller to manage all stock and equipment used on every job including returns to suppliers and sourcing best price, you can’t rely on the staff to be 100% accurate with their stock
@@thomasnagy I would second the comment about ‘stock controller’ basically even if it is one of the girls in the office or one of the other Sparks you have on staff… having one person responsible for stock control adds to the security of the stock on hand which would mean any loss or theft etc… would be solely the responsibility of the stock controller and make them want to ensure that stock is controlled and secured appropriately and not just have people picking and taking Willy nilly without a job card and make sure you keep your costs due to loss at the ver minimum you possibly can.
He did this in his old Renault traffic on the back door of the van… he literally used to do that but I don’t think he wants to destroy his new vans the way he did with his old Renault traffic. He really did run that van hard
Sometimes you don't need stuff, you just want it, it makes the shit jobs easier. I have 6 vehicles and HATE going to have tyres fitted, so I bought my very own semi auto tyre changer and a wheel balancer.. People think I'm crazy spending £3k on that for something that I'm not going to make money from. But it's mine, I'll do my own tyres whenever I want, don't have to rely on anyone else... And it'll hold its value.
But you ARE "making" money on it...the costs of mounting & balancing are not going to someone else anymore so you are saving the money you used to spend on those.
@@richardmckenna9702 honestly, I hated having tyres fitted. I used to always buy my own tyres and take them, mainly because most of my cars have staggered wheels and it's hard to get matching front/back tyres... So it was hard to find someone to get them the fit. And when they did, it was just a hassle, either finding a suitable time to fit me in or leaving with wheels that wasn't balanced properly. I once went back for rebalancing 8 times, then I had to show him how to do it.
As you grow as a business you will realise that business process automation is the key. A good ERP system takes care of everything. Built and administered many in my time. Been watching your videos for some time it’s nice seeing a business grow.
Having a similar sized electrical business to yours, my advice would be, stick to the electrical work and leave the vehicle servicing to a reliable mechanic you can build a relationship with. When you have bigger mechanical repairs or emergency work, you can lean on your mechanic knowing he will help you out.
I paused the video there, a stock management system is overkill lol. Em what, as an IT professional, the most basic database courses teaches you about the most basic stock management systems AKA any lad fresh out of college could make you one, hardly overkill. And as an IT professional, I wish I had one to keep track of all our stock and assets. Yes it can do asset management too, so it can track all your tools, IT equipment in fact it can track anything you want it too, you could put in how many screws you have in a box if you want to. No brainer to have one and cost wouldn't be expensive.
"Mummy, why does daddy make toilet rolls and light bulbs"? "Don't be silly dear, daddy doesn't make toilet rolls and light bulbs, why do you say that"? "Well that's what he brings home from work every friday"!
I hope you are keeping an eye on the weight going into the cherry picker. Racking, cones and signs, tools, materials. If its a 3.5 ton it wont take long to reach your max. I took mine to Ford for MOT and they refused to do it because it was overloaded. Emptied out all my tools and materials and got weight down and then they did it.
Most van/truck mounted access platforms are close to their limit before you start carrying tools and materials as it is. Also, if you are planning to use the ramp to maintain this, it doesn't look like there's enough height clearance.
Tom clearly has his sh*t together. There's clearly a lot of thought and planning that's he's put into his business, and as time goes on, any minor wrinkles will quickly be ironed out. Well done mate, you're a testament to getting stuff done in a positive, logical and thoughtful manner.
Once you have more than 3 vehicles in house is always the way. The pad difference is engine breaking vs someone that relies on the breaks - it's why many people don't see any difference in break where when swapping to an EV as it's engine breaking for them. DIN rail mount the old breakers on pull out vertical draws it'll make life much easier. Your fault with the fridge unit was either damp ingress from the wall or more likely as it's fully built in with no ventilation visible it's moisture from the function of the integrated fridge. Common fault left by kitchen fitters with floor to ceiling units.
Those brake pads - my Dad owned a small haulage firm and the mileage he and I could get out of consumables compared to other drivers - unbelievable. When it’s yours you look after it - if your vans are not on the road, they are not working. Good work and a good vid.
By rights you probably should put yourselves through a harness course as well as the ipaf as you should be trained and understand what you are using. The stretchy lanyards you are using are a fall arrest type that is used when you have a chance of falling, the rope type you refer to is work restraint, the latter is the type recommended to use in the mewp as you should restrain yourself from ever being able to fall out the basket. Hope this helps
Agree. From someone who works on wind turbines, I wear a harness everyday. The double lanyard (stretchy) one is a fall arrest which needs to be attached at a certified hook on point which will arrest your fall should you have one. Should you also have a fixed lanyard (work position) that’s to secure you in place when working at height and will not arrest your fall.
By the sounds of it you have not calculated the hours it takes to maintain your "fleet". That is a cost and needs to be added into your billing. Even if you save money by doing your own maintenance on your vehicles you need to "bill" for it in order to get an accurate reading of your overhead. In short you a underselling your own time in behalf of your company just because you can.
I think the office staff are better equipped to deal with “Nagy OCD” … most sparky’s won’t stand for it long…unless he decides to profit share Tom will always have issue with others commitment to his business compared to his own … it’s the “Nagy way, or the highway” … see what I did there 😂 … only my opinion
10:35 very true. Had mine done recently for the first time after.. 60,000+ miles! And that was only the fronts! Efficient driving does definitely pay off
Stretchy harness are for places where you can't help being near a fall so going up fixed ladders, walkways that have no barriers, scaffolding that's not finished e.t.c. did a generic working at height course (used to do rollercoaster work)and they were very good at explaining what to use when. Hope this helps
Would recommend giving the stock location numbers now so as your inventory grows you aren’t always searching and wasting time. For example part number 1 is in location 0901A ( rack 9 shelf 1 on the left (a,b,c). Easy to do it now rather than when you’ve got thousands of individual parts.
when it comes to employee thefts, trust but verify. if you have good data on stock levels and a new hire comes along and shit starts going missing, you have the data to back up your suspicions and you know to be a bit more proactive about resolving the issue.
I was told in my ipaf training to use a short and adjustable fall arrest, The idea is that you adjust it to as short as you can while maneuvering. So that if the bucket bumps you up in to the air you should land down back down on your feet instead of being chucked out the bucket and left dangling.
What your seeing here is Tom changing from a one person operator to a small business owner. For a small business to survive the owner has keep a track of every cost and try to be efficient as possible otherwise you will get eaten alive by the competition.
Tom. For stock bar coding I recommend use the bar code on the actual boxes but you can get like a Brother or Dymo label machine (office desk version) and print the matching barcode along with description and any other detail like min Qty. Makes stock system so much easier. Also QR codes are also being used now as an alternative.
Thomas - Use the bar codes that are already on the merchandise instead of reinventing the wheel with your own bar codes. Bonus, when the manufacturer changes their bar code that means they have changed the product and the new product may not be a drop in replacement.
separate harness safety awareness course was a requirement for mewp/boom lift and leading edge work at old firm . This covered everything needed , gave confidence in selecting the correct harness/lanyards for the taks , also correct tethering for tools .
For inventory management some pointers :) - Don't reassign barcodes for your "line items" (products), most products these days have UPC barcodes on them, except maybe for bulk packs and then dedicated barcodes make sense. UPC codes are also meant to be globally unique and generally don't change on a given product line unless the manuf iterates and then gernally if they do that, it's a new product line - Inventory management only works if you do regular stock takes (say once a month) (over time if your inventory software is advanced enough it'll even enable JIT (just in time) ordering which has its pros and cons (the shortages of shit is JIT falling flat on it's face because companies butchered the original Toyota implementation of it :| ) - If your employees know what they need, get them into the habbit of "checking stuff out" and then back in if it doesn't get used. This will help the girls upstairs with invoicing a lot - May be worth treating the vans as a """"warehouse"""" in the software if you maintain stock of product in the vans, you'll need to decide whether it's worth doing regular stocktakes of your vans as they can be time consuming unless you got the infrastructure in place to make it more optimal (when I managed IT hardware we'd scan all the UPC codes for all the things into a spreadsheet on the barcode guns (they where like PDAs with built in barcode scanners) and then feed the spreadsheet into some software to get the count, way more accurate than getting someone to count shit and hope to god they can count!) Though you are definitely on point in wanting a stock system, it'll allow you to keep track of both shit that goes AWOL as well as "distressed" stock (shit that gets broken) which you may be able to get a tax break on depending on how fucked your taxation system is in the UK
Yes Mr Nagy. Loving the new video format. It seems that for whatever reason you aren't popular with some YT sparks but I find you informative, entertaining yet professional. Looking forward to what is to come!
I think the ramp is a great idea. As well as saving money you'll learn so much about how your vans are made and how they work and if you enjoy it, that's a bonus too. I changed carrer from a spark to a mechanic about 18 moths ago and I've never looked back.
To add on from all the other comments, the stretchy lanyards with the folded webbing is called a 'Fall Arrest' Lanyard, its job is to stop a fall with a small amount of shock absorbing. A solid rope lanyard is a 'Fall Restraint' lanyard, its purpose is to stop you falling in the first place, it's advised that you wear a Fall restraint lanyard when using and MEWP to reduce the risk of you coming out of the bucket, but when working in a static lifter that can't be moved when elevated, a Fall restraint lanyard shouldn't be an issue. Also the type or attachment on the end of the rope can be the larger ' Scaffold hook' or a standard double action carabiner. As long as it has more than 1 action to open it. Hope this helps, and keep up the great content.
I agree of keeping things inhouse, but surely your insurances cover, covers you to run a electrical business, but does your insurance cover your business to carry out servicing your vehicles which your employees are not qualified to do. This could leave you and you employees open to a criminal prosecution if an accident happens , and leaving You without any insurance cover . If you vans are still under warranty this could also invalidate you warranty. Things we are aloud to do at home like servicing our car, we would be banded from doing it at work because of the health and safety at works act
Tom, totally get the ramp install. We did this too, totally non-related business but we stuck a 4 ton lift in our unit so that we could basically work on our vehicles. Our unit was sub divided into offices really, the open "unit" section was just my play area in reality.
Might be due to the camera he was using, perspective gets distorted. For example see how long his arms look in near shots. The ceiling is probably higher than it looks.
It's a fantastic set up you have got yourself there Thomas, it's great to see how far you've pushed yourself and business to reach the point you are at now. 👍
Stretchy harnesses and harnesses with the chunky block near the attachment point are fall arrest and designed to break a fall, used by scaffolders and with fixed wire systems like those around roof edges etc, also used for climbing mobile phone or communications masts. These can stretch up to something like 6 ft when arresting a fall, meaning you could end up leaving the basket and being crushed underneath. Ropes and belts (normally 2m) are fall restraint, and usually have an adjustment built in. These are used in mewps as the basic idea is you don't leave the perimeter of the basket and also have a better chance of surviving a tip-over if you are restrained in the basket rather than flying out of the basket. You are supposed to use the rope adjustment to take the slack out of the rope when using it so that you arent thrown about if the machine goes to tip or something else crashes into you at ground level. Basic idea being that you are within the safety of the basket at all times.
Don't forget about some business continuity planning. What if an be event means you can't access the unit? What if you're brilliant admin isn''t available for a week or a month or a year. Is anything, data/records/hardware your business now absolutely relies on only stored in the unit? Vans etc are insured but his long before you can get an equivalent replacement?
Tom! That stretchy thing as far as I can tell is a tubular shock absorbing lanyard, in the scenario you fall out of the bucket, it stretches out to its maximum allowable length and breaks your fall, it’s stretchy in its natural state so it doesn’t drag on the floor so bad or get hung up
As a qulified Mot tester/mechanic we look after a few traffics for a company. They hired a new employee. Within a month he blew the gearbox and clutch. We repaired it and within 2 weeks he burnt the new clutch out. But was blaming it on the van. Even though we're looked after this van since new an never had any problems. After his 3 month trial he was let go. An the van has not had a problem since. Some employees just abuse there company vehicles.
@@jerryuk93 Yes the pads being metal on metal could of been caused by many things. Sezied sliders or pads stuck in the carrier etc etc. I didnt strip it down so i dont know. But id assume if there were any issues he would of said. He didnt. So assuming everything was working as it should. An nothing was stuck seized or broken. Then it can only be down to the driving style.
@JerryUK an my point was that some employee's do not treat there company vehicles the way they should. Wether tom is competent or not in repairing them wasnt what i was commenting on. I just gave one of my own experiences relating to the information he gave.
For the rope situation, I’m not a expert but surely working on the bucket truck at the top of the house is the same as scaffolding so can’t see a issued in a domestic setting using a stretchy harness, I don’t know if it’s the same with highways but maybe you could use stretchy for domestic and the rope for highways.
I would suggest doing a harness course on top of what you have already done. Also to improve the barcode system you are using, I would individually barcode everything (obviously with the same barcode number). It's not generally that necessary but it will help with stock counts, keeping track, lower the chance of theft even more & if your company continues to grow it will be something you will probably end up implementing anyway.
The stretchy lanyard is for a fixed point where the distance you might fall is greater than the length of the stretchiness (+extra obviously). If you use that in the boom you might find that you may fall and hit a building or even hit the floor as the amount of strech is lower than the distance to the nearest thing. The work arrest shouldn't allow you to escape the bucket. They may not tell you what each harness is for but they tell you what lanyard to use. They only tell you which to use for a reason so you shouldn't think it's okay to mismatch. A harness course is definately a good shout for all that
Only thing to add with the barcode system could be a barcode for each person. 5 lights, 2 heat alarms and one electrician 32B means you know who's done what.
Also agree here, much easier to "sign things out" per person that way too :), that will then be linked back to their job too, maybe a barcode on your job sheets too, scan the barcode then scan your items needed. you'll be able to get the costing and data automated then and help the girls out in office too, speeding up everyones lifes
You should also chip tag all your sundries i.e. ladders , safety devices, test equipment etc then you can log servicing/testing requirements ( be it H&S or periodical checks of functionality), life span / replacement, loses for insurance etc. Also it double checks your employees are not using damaged or faulty equipment.
Its funny you mentioning the brake pads. We have noticed at my work that with our pickup trucks, even miles per gallon can differ massively between employees day to day despite having the same stretches of road and vehicle.
When doing 3a and 3b courses we were always told to use a fixed line on the basis to keep you in the basket, the extension or fall arrest only work if your above a certain height which won't always be the case
The point of the harnass is to keep you in the bucket in case the whole thing fallsover. If you have a stretchy lanyard (most stretch up to 1.8 metres) you could be launched from the bucket and land underneath it. BTW love the videos keep them comming.
Running a company with a lot of assets and wanting to hire them out or track them I would recommend using something cloud based. Means your not worrying about backing things up and you can access it wherever (ie on a job checking you have something). We use QR codes so we can use smartphones to quickly scan things rather than having to find the barcode scanned (though we do have hand held 2D barcode scanners).
Hi Tom I run a M&E. workshop and the Bluetooth scanner wouldn’t work for me but may well do for you as you should have a mostly fixed stock. What I would say is to get a COSHH cabinet for oils, lubes, greases etc and also box your compressor in somewhere out the was as they are noisy buggers But remember to leave a gap for draining the water out the tank 👍 Cheers but keep the content coming
Yes, any aerosol spray cans and containers containing flammable liquids or similar should be stored in a suitable cabinet. Fire authorities are not keen on free range items that can explode if they are involved in a fire.
When I did my IPAF training we were basically told that the length of the strap at full extension should be short enough that you don't fall out of the mewp whether its a stretchy one or a fixed rope or one of the ones that has a small bundled length of rope in the middle that snaps open when its used it just shouldn't be longer than necessary . Bare minimum is that you wont hit the floor but ideally it should be short enough to keep you in the basket
I would recommend having a minimum stock level. So once you have went below a set stock level it will automatically prompt you to re order . If you want to set up a min stock level take into consideration is it a high usage item and the lead time for your supplier so you don’t run completely out
Great to see you going to fault call outs again, and your process to find the issue, trying to avoid removing the fridge yet typically was a case of "what lies beneath/behind" 🤣 All very useful stuff and advice though.
When I did my ipaf years ago it was the same, no info on harnesses. I had to do a separate harness course, that went into detail, it allowed me to inspect and certify my harness as needed for the 12monthly check.
You could use the existing UPC barcodes on the boxes of your inventory items. Then you get the barcodes for free, and you can still scan them if they get mixed up. Also people can search for the UPC and order replacements/ get details etc directly
best way of keeping note of stock? order what you need, dont be too picky over items that cost a quid, stock 2 or 3 of each commonly used outlet/switch in a van and youre sorted, replace as needed. if youre taking stock of screws etc, you have too much time thats better spent on making more money than stocking could save you
Doing jobs in house that are not revenue generating activities can be a false economy depending on the numbers. For example. Having the electrician working on the van makes the business $0. Having them out on the road say they are bringing in $100 an hour. If a mechanic charges $75 an hour. You still come out $25 ahead vs $0. Plus a mechanic will already have all the tools and probably be able to turn around jobs quicker. Also you need to think about insurance and if you are covered for these activities.
You can have one set a pads for 100 years, it really doesn't matter if that van done just 10 000 miles in 100 years and from 10000 miles 9000 were done on motorway. You are not using break pads by years, you are using pads by mileage, weight, traffic and your style of breaking. :)
you need someone to be stock controller in hq tom, that way you can lob whats needed at em, they can prep it in a crate or box and then you just run in, grab the box, run out... well its an idea anyway! i agree on sockets behind white goods! never should be behind, should be somewhere easy to access!
About the brake pads: My new vehicle uses regen braking as often as it can vs the actual pads (As is becoming more commonplace with hybrids and everything). I've owned the vehicle for about 6 months now and only used the actual brake pads 4 times since I obviously want to use regen braking as much as I can and thus usually slow down early enough to use it all the way to when I have to stop.
I think your quite right. As a business owner you have to look after the business as No1 priority,and stock checking is just one of those things. Like you say it's not distrust,just business.
Tom, have a look online for software called Fiix. It is now owned by Rockwell automation. I have set this software up for several businesses now. It keeps track of inventory, jobs and outstanding work. You can also add parts to work orders so it keeps it all together with prices. You can also have it on mobile phones and use them as a scanner for the QR codes.
Hi Tom - Great idea for the breakers, only thought I would have is how would you get on under ISO9001 for QA / traceability? Also do You give the customer a "caveat" if you have to use a "second hand" breaker? (Basically because it's not "brand new") (Don't get me wrong, most "second hand" breakers are fine, obviously can be thoroughly tested, I'm just thinking how you would keep any "QA" type system happy). The fact you already have stuff neatly on racking is good - all your "pre enjoyed" breakers potentially have a "QA Quarantine area". Your stock control system and other things might seem a bit OCD - but I suggest if you are going for ISO9001, most of your systems will already be in place. Obviously for ISO9001 to "work", everybody has got to take it "on board". I've had various experiences with ISO9001 with companies - don't get me wrong - it's good if implemented sensibly, but I feel that it is healthy not to forget, that ultimately it could mean a company just produces crap to a consistent standard. Also I like like the bit where you are getting a bit "out of the loop" with staff, so that staff can do jobs "when Tom isn't there". Again, I suggest this is a prime thing ISO auditors look for, "what would happen if Joe Bloggs suddenly went ill". Basically can anyone else pick up the procedures and "run with it"? (Obviously within their qualification / competence). Anyway, just a few thoughts.
Stretchy lanyards are fall arrest. They're designed to reduce the force felt in the event you fall. For cherry pickers you should use a fall restraint, like the fixed rope lanyard. They're designed to prevent you getting in to a position where you can fall, but not to reduce the force felt during a fall.
When I did my high height course for my earlier employment we didn't even learn how the harness were put on.. We bought their package and got those lanyards with a dampener in line. And the courseleader were only talking about his job on windmills and when he races his MC on courses.
Across the ocean where I live outlets behind appliances is a common practice, as 9/10 fridges I've seen are standalone and have wheels underneath, if the outlet goes wrong just roll the fridge out and get to work, non integrated electric stoves and dryers are a pain because we have 2 or 3 types of high voltage plugs and 2 different leads, 3/4 pin, 3/4 wire, so you have to pull the appliance and unplug it to find which type of cord or receptacle you need
Using the product's existing EAN/UPC barcode for your inventory system will help. When the product isn't on the shelf with your sticker how would you identify the product code quickly.
stick a tracker box on the employee vehicles, you have to make them aware, some have acceleration and braking sensors on. It will annoy them t first but they will start to look after the vehicles. Always have them sign out drivers and log dates and times. Otherwise they will take the piss.
As others have said, screw a load of din rail on that partition wall, for your breakers, make use of it. Renault wanted £300 to change the pads on my traffic, bought the pads from autodoc for £60(brembo), a local guy fitted them, and done an oil and filter change, and only charged £140 for the lot, with him supplying the oil and filter, not worth me getting my hands dirty, but Renault are robbing barstewards.
On the start of the week have the employees do a van stock check and sign off against it and end of the week they do another and it should match up with jobs done to goods used. If as you say the van is shared then even more important to have it done when someone else takes it. Sound bit of a faff, but can save you £100’s in costs especially when the goods used are easily sold.
Really enjoy the business talk videos! The stock system is a good idea, I always say organization is one of the main factors when running a successful business. Also totally agree with the ramp. Always best to be able to do things yourself if you have the ability and time, always a chance of being let down when having to rely on other people.
erm... stock management using the scanner and barcode system isn't overkill... who thinks that? It is going to save so much time and money on dithering around wondering if you have something or not. It will also reduce customer disappointment of hearing "I don't have that part I will have to order it" I think the organisation looks very efficient and professional.
It is overkill for such a small team. The main benefit in having some stock, is saving time driving to, and standing in wholesalers. Its not about operating like another branch of Screwfix. Expensive items can be kept under lock and key, and anyone who's on the rob, when there's only a handful of staff, is as dumb as a box of rocks.
Amazing. Large companies outsource stuff they don’t specialise in. Tom buys a ramp. Good on you if it makes financial sense. What about one of them hydraulic lifts which won’t take up too much floor space when not in use?
Maintaining the company’s cars yourself only makes financial sense if Tom does the work himself. If he uses his workers to service the car, maintenance is likely to become more expensive compared to a professional garage. He has to pay the employee a salary and he loses billable time for real jobs. One may also wonder whether it makes sense to use the boss’s time for car repairs or whether it would make more sense to use it for quote calculation and administrative tasks.
Large companies also piss people off when their customers call them and get some woman from Calcutta that has no idea what the English language is or where you live in the world. Isn't out-sourcing fucking great.......
@@peto22 Very much depends on the business. It's likely that in any 6-month (or however long) period there's going to be a job cancelled or a few hours unbooked. Perfect time to say "OK mate, get your oil filters changed." The employee is on the clock anyway. As an aside, this is not a normal business. While it may not make sense for most bosses to do some of these tasks, "Nagy changes brake pads" is going to get 50k views, so it probably pays off.
I wonder are you increasing your risk of being sued by doing all your own maintenance. For instance if one of the vans had a brake failure all the responsibility would be on Tom.
Just a thought why dont you buy a few full length din rail mount this to a wall? clip breakers on , easier to group and see at a glance and also can be used in van to hold spares,
Tom on the harness discussion we have 6 monthly inspection performed by someone who has done a harness inspection course. I think under the PPE regs it was a legal requirement to inspect every 12 months. Alot of companies also like MEWP operators to use tool tethering. The only issue i can see regarding the Ramp is you proving competency to work on a vehicle. If something goes wrong how can you prove you are suitably qualified to perform maintenance on vehicles on the road? Its okay when its your personal car but when it moves into business it could get complicated.
Love that... I fit kitchens, you're the 1st sparks I've ever come across that thinks sockets behind white goods are a crap idea.... Keep spreading the word..
"Why do you have a car ramp"
"Because I wanted one"
Having a ramp is every car guys dream!
Wanna see how high can lift Bucket truck under that MEZ :)
If the software supports it registering the barcode on the boxes of things is really convenient
Yes absolutely this
Some barcode tips
For the shelfs in the unit, put the barcodes labels on Magnetic "Tape". Makes it easy to reorganize without having to reprint the labels.
Not sure if you keep stock in the vans. If you are, maybe make each van a location named by the license plate. Use dedicated barcode scanner in the van or a phone scanner app, so employees can move stock straight to the costumers bill.
Print and laminate the van barcodes on paper sheets. Makes it easy to do stock from front seat in the van.
Super advice. Thanks very much. I’ll take note 👍👍👍
When I worked in London installing cable television we would get out stock from the stock controller including set top boxes and stock, if you can afford it hire a stock controller to manage all stock and equipment used on every job including returns to suppliers and sourcing best price, you can’t rely on the staff to be 100% accurate with their stock
@@thomasnagy I would second the comment about ‘stock controller’ basically even if it is one of the girls in the office or one of the other Sparks you have on staff… having one person responsible for stock control adds to the security of the stock on hand which would mean any loss or theft etc… would be solely the responsibility of the stock controller and make them want to ensure that stock is controlled and secured appropriately and not just have people picking and taking Willy nilly without a job card and make sure you keep your costs due to loss at the ver minimum you possibly can.
To store all those breakers - screw a few lengths of DIN rail on the wall
Top tip👍
Sounds like you should be joining the team as the warehouse manager
I think he has din on the back of the van doors, he used to anyway.
Clever.
He did this in his old Renault traffic on the back door of the van… he literally used to do that but I don’t think he wants to destroy his new vans the way he did with his old Renault traffic. He really did run that van hard
Sometimes you don't need stuff, you just want it, it makes the shit jobs easier. I have 6 vehicles and HATE going to have tyres fitted, so I bought my very own semi auto tyre changer and a wheel balancer.. People think I'm crazy spending £3k on that for something that I'm not going to make money from. But it's mine, I'll do my own tyres whenever I want, don't have to rely on anyone else... And it'll hold its value.
But you ARE "making" money on it...the costs of mounting & balancing are not going to someone else anymore so you are saving the money you used to spend on those.
Look at the downtime you will save by not having to sit at a tyre shop
@@richardmckenna9702 honestly, I hated having tyres fitted. I used to always buy my own tyres and take them, mainly because most of my cars have staggered wheels and it's hard to get matching front/back tyres... So it was hard to find someone to get them the fit. And when they did, it was just a hassle, either finding a suitable time to fit me in or leaving with wheels that wasn't balanced properly. I once went back for rebalancing 8 times, then I had to show him how to do it.
As you grow as a business you will realise that business process automation is the key. A good ERP system takes care of everything. Built and administered many in my time. Been watching your videos for some time it’s nice seeing a business grow.
100% agree. I build SAP applications for a living and Tom is getting to the point he needs an interlinking bundled system.
Having a similar sized electrical business to yours, my advice would be, stick to the electrical work and leave the vehicle servicing to a reliable mechanic you can build a relationship with.
When you have bigger mechanical repairs or emergency work, you can lean on your mechanic knowing he will help you out.
As a branch manager of Toolstation I approve of your stock management idea. I'm also loving the regular uploads again!
I paused the video there, a stock management system is overkill lol. Em what, as an IT professional, the most basic database courses teaches you about the most basic stock management systems AKA any lad fresh out of college could make you one, hardly overkill. And as an IT professional, I wish I had one to keep track of all our stock and assets. Yes it can do asset management too, so it can track all your tools, IT equipment in fact it can track anything you want it too, you could put in how many screws you have in a box if you want to. No brainer to have one and cost wouldn't be expensive.
Lol, I am waiting for the amount of toilet paper boss uses vs employees. This video was abit like a caution to employees about braking and stealing
That should be easy to work out once he has every sheet barcoded 🤣
@@grrarg9319 lololol
Next video Tom fits a gps to the van to check speeds.
@@Arachnoid_of_the_underverse Don’t give him ideas FFS. Actually I think he already has this when he got the two Renaults. To know their location
"Mummy, why does daddy make toilet rolls and light bulbs"?
"Don't be silly dear, daddy doesn't make toilet rolls and light bulbs, why do you say that"?
"Well that's what he brings home from work every friday"!
I hope you are keeping an eye on the weight going into the cherry picker. Racking, cones and signs, tools, materials. If its a 3.5 ton it wont take long to reach your max. I took mine to Ford for MOT and they refused to do it because it was overloaded. Emptied out all my tools and materials and got weight down and then they did it.
Most van/truck mounted access platforms are close to their limit before you start carrying tools and materials as it is. Also, if you are planning to use the ramp to maintain this, it doesn't look like there's enough height clearance.
Tom clearly has his sh*t together. There's clearly a lot of thought and planning that's he's put into his business, and as time goes on, any minor wrinkles will quickly be ironed out. Well done mate, you're a testament to getting stuff done in a positive, logical and thoughtful manner.
The videos are coming thick and fast now. Always fascinating. Nice one Nagy!
Once you have more than 3 vehicles in house is always the way. The pad difference is engine breaking vs someone that relies on the breaks - it's why many people don't see any difference in break where when swapping to an EV as it's engine breaking for them.
DIN rail mount the old breakers on pull out vertical draws it'll make life much easier.
Your fault with the fridge unit was either damp ingress from the wall or more likely as it's fully built in with no ventilation visible it's moisture from the function of the integrated fridge. Common fault left by kitchen fitters with floor to ceiling units.
Breaks.........
OK.
Those brake pads - my Dad owned a small haulage firm and the mileage he and I could get out of consumables compared to other drivers - unbelievable. When it’s yours you look after it - if your vans are not on the road, they are not working.
Good work and a good vid.
The old saying - fastest car is one that's not yours.
By rights you probably should put yourselves through a harness course as well as the ipaf as you should be trained and understand what you are using. The stretchy lanyards you are using are a fall arrest type that is used when you have a chance of falling, the rope type you refer to is work restraint, the latter is the type recommended to use in the mewp as you should restrain yourself from ever being able to fall out the basket. Hope this helps
Agree. From someone who works on wind turbines, I wear a harness everyday. The double lanyard (stretchy) one is a fall arrest which needs to be attached at a certified hook on point which will arrest your fall should you have one. Should you also have a fixed lanyard (work position) that’s to secure you in place when working at height and will not arrest your fall.
@@jacklongstaff8732 I've always wanted to work on wind turbines, onshore or offshore. How does one get into such field?
Just wrote the same thing and you explained it better doh
@@Fingers896 usually a 4x4 or boat for off shore
@@joeglancy4980 Not sure if that’s sarcasm but I think he means how do you get that job?😄
By the sounds of it you have not calculated the hours it takes to maintain your "fleet". That is a cost and needs to be added into your billing. Even if you save money by doing your own maintenance on your vehicles you need to "bill" for it in order to get an accurate reading of your overhead. In short you a underselling your own time in behalf of your company just because you can.
Do you think his employees are watching this thinking “ffs he’s whining about how i drive the van 🙄” … “better steal some shit now” 🤣🤣
“The Admin” 🤣 had it in the previous video as they went off together without telling him. No staff member is untainted.
I think the office staff are better equipped to deal with “Nagy OCD” … most sparky’s won’t stand for it long…unless he decides to profit share Tom will always have issue with others commitment to his business compared to his own … it’s the “Nagy way, or the highway” … see what I did there 😂 …
only my opinion
Work vehicle = Drive it like it’s stolen.
@@tflemming287 🤣🤣
🤣 was thinking exactly the same
10:35 very true. Had mine done recently for the first time after.. 60,000+ miles! And that was only the fronts! Efficient driving does definitely pay off
Stretchy harness are for places where you can't help being near a fall so going up fixed ladders, walkways that have no barriers, scaffolding that's not finished e.t.c. did a generic working at height course (used to do rollercoaster work)and they were very good at explaining what to use when.
Hope this helps
Would recommend giving the stock location numbers now so as your inventory grows you aren’t always searching and wasting time.
For example part number 1 is in location 0901A ( rack 9 shelf 1 on the left (a,b,c). Easy to do it now rather than when you’ve got thousands of individual parts.
He hasn't heard of 5S
What sort of madman installed that fridge with the door hinged on the right with the wall on the left?
when it comes to employee thefts, trust but verify. if you have good data on stock levels and a new hire comes along and shit starts going missing, you have the data to back up your suspicions and you know to be a bit more proactive about resolving the issue.
I was told in my ipaf training to use a short and adjustable fall arrest,
The idea is that you adjust it to as short as you can while maneuvering.
So that if the bucket bumps you up in to the air you should land down back down on your feet instead of being chucked out the bucket and left dangling.
"I'd rather rewired a entire bungalow than take that fridge out" LOL
What your seeing here is Tom changing from a one person operator to a small business owner. For a small business to survive the owner has keep a track of every cost and try to be efficient as possible otherwise you will get eaten alive by the competition.
I’m loving the new content, mixture of taking care of the base and vehicles and doing call outs
Tom. For stock bar coding I recommend use the bar code on the actual boxes but you can get like a Brother or Dymo label machine (office desk version) and print the matching barcode along with description and any other detail like min Qty. Makes stock system so much easier. Also QR codes are also being used now as an alternative.
Thomas - Use the bar codes that are already on the merchandise instead of reinventing the wheel with your own bar codes. Bonus, when the manufacturer changes their bar code that means they have changed the product and the new product may not be a drop in replacement.
I fix consumer electronics for a living, and my stock management motto is... I might have one in a box somewhere 😂
That seems to be a lie, how do you even get parts from the Chinese or circuit diagrams?
@@mikeZL3XD7029 parts are easy to buy if you know where to look lol
@@TheCod3r I think he was snarking about modern electronics being built to replace, not repair, and all shoddy imports. Being a knob about it though.
separate harness safety awareness course was a requirement for mewp/boom lift and leading edge work at old firm .
This covered everything needed , gave confidence in selecting the correct harness/lanyards for the taks , also correct tethering for tools .
For inventory management some pointers :)
- Don't reassign barcodes for your "line items" (products), most products these days have UPC barcodes on them, except maybe for bulk packs and then dedicated barcodes make sense. UPC codes are also meant to be globally unique and generally don't change on a given product line unless the manuf iterates and then gernally if they do that, it's a new product line
- Inventory management only works if you do regular stock takes (say once a month) (over time if your inventory software is advanced enough it'll even enable JIT (just in time) ordering which has its pros and cons (the shortages of shit is JIT falling flat on it's face because companies butchered the original Toyota implementation of it :| )
- If your employees know what they need, get them into the habbit of "checking stuff out" and then back in if it doesn't get used. This will help the girls upstairs with invoicing a lot
- May be worth treating the vans as a """"warehouse"""" in the software if you maintain stock of product in the vans, you'll need to decide whether it's worth doing regular stocktakes of your vans as they can be time consuming unless you got the infrastructure in place to make it more optimal (when I managed IT hardware we'd scan all the UPC codes for all the things into a spreadsheet on the barcode guns (they where like PDAs with built in barcode scanners) and then feed the spreadsheet into some software to get the count, way more accurate than getting someone to count shit and hope to god they can count!)
Though you are definitely on point in wanting a stock system, it'll allow you to keep track of both shit that goes AWOL as well as "distressed" stock (shit that gets broken) which you may be able to get a tax break on depending on how fucked your taxation system is in the UK
get yourself some 2 metre lengths of din rails and screw them to the wall so you can see what old/spare breakers you've got lying around
Why are you helping him? I thought you Chris were busy planning his downfall! 🤣
@Abdul Raheem what show? 🤔
@Abdul Raheem Wasn’t cleaning the van. It was sat is his van on Sunday
@Abdul Raheem DSES and JBE J beck
@Abdul Raheem FFS it was a piss take. All the RUclips sparks take the piss out of each other.
Yes Mr Nagy. Loving the new video format. It seems that for whatever reason you aren't popular with some YT sparks but I find you informative, entertaining yet professional. Looking forward to what is to come!
I think the ramp is a great idea. As well as saving money you'll learn so much about how your vans are made and how they work and if you enjoy it, that's a bonus too. I changed carrer from a spark to a mechanic about 18 moths ago and I've never looked back.
Seeing you from being solo to a team is pretty awesome!
To add on from all the other comments, the stretchy lanyards with the folded webbing is called a 'Fall Arrest' Lanyard, its job is to stop a fall with a small amount of shock absorbing. A solid rope lanyard is a 'Fall Restraint' lanyard, its purpose is to stop you falling in the first place, it's advised that you wear a Fall restraint lanyard when using and MEWP to reduce the risk of you coming out of the bucket, but when working in a static lifter that can't be moved when elevated, a Fall restraint lanyard shouldn't be an issue. Also the type or attachment on the end of the rope can be the larger ' Scaffold hook' or a standard double action carabiner. As long as it has more than 1 action to open it. Hope this helps, and keep up the great content.
I agree of keeping things inhouse, but surely your insurances cover, covers you to run a electrical business, but does your insurance cover your business to carry out servicing your vehicles which your employees are not qualified to do. This could leave you and you employees open to a criminal prosecution if an accident happens , and leaving You without any insurance cover . If you vans are still under warranty this could also invalidate you warranty. Things we are aloud to do at home like servicing our car, we would be banded from doing it at work because of the health and safety at works act
Another great video, Keep it up Tom !!!!
A good lesson and overview of challenges on scaling up a business.
Tom, totally get the ramp install. We did this too, totally non-related business but we stuck a 4 ton lift in our unit so that we could basically work on our vehicles. Our unit was sub divided into offices really, the open "unit" section was just my play area in reality.
It's hard to tell on the video but is there actually enough height to put the vans on the ramp without them hitting the ceiling when you put them up?
He said it was a mid rise lift.
I know he said mid rise lift but still doesn't look like there is a lot of vertical space
Might be due to the camera he was using, perspective gets distorted. For example see how long his arms look in near shots. The ceiling is probably higher than it looks.
It's a fantastic set up you have got yourself there Thomas, it's great to see how far you've pushed yourself and business to reach the point you are at now. 👍
Man has a problem. Man in a van turns up, sorts it out. Honest graft. Love it!
That faulthfinding on the socket was good quality. Thanks thomas
Stretchy harnesses and harnesses with the chunky block near the attachment point are fall arrest and designed to break a fall, used by scaffolders and with fixed wire systems like those around roof edges etc, also used for climbing mobile phone or communications masts. These can stretch up to something like 6 ft when arresting a fall, meaning you could end up leaving the basket and being crushed underneath.
Ropes and belts (normally 2m) are fall restraint, and usually have an adjustment built in. These are used in mewps as the basic idea is you don't leave the perimeter of the basket and also have a better chance of surviving a tip-over if you are restrained in the basket rather than flying out of the basket. You are supposed to use the rope adjustment to take the slack out of the rope when using it so that you arent thrown about if the machine goes to tip or something else crashes into you at ground level. Basic idea being that you are within the safety of the basket at all times.
You bought cones ?
They’re free, just drive down a busy road and find some 😉😂
I'm sorry but I really can't conedone this sort of behaviour! 😂
@@delakota555 😃😂
I did. Then sold them to some RUclipsr spark's on Amazon 😉
@@roydowling2542 hahaha nice 😉
It is if you're Jewish, lad.....
Don't forget about some business continuity planning. What if an be event means you can't access the unit? What if you're brilliant admin isn''t available for a week or a month or a year. Is anything, data/records/hardware your business now absolutely relies on only stored in the unit? Vans etc
are insured but his long before you can get an equivalent replacement?
Tom! That stretchy thing as far as I can tell is a tubular shock absorbing lanyard, in the scenario you fall out of the bucket, it stretches out to its maximum allowable length and breaks your fall, it’s stretchy in its natural state so it doesn’t drag on the floor so bad or get hung up
As a qulified Mot tester/mechanic we look after a few traffics for a company. They hired a new employee. Within a month he blew the gearbox and clutch. We repaired it and within 2 weeks he burnt the new clutch out. But was blaming it on the van. Even though we're looked after this van since new an never had any problems. After his 3 month trial he was let go. An the van has not had a problem since. Some employees just abuse there company vehicles.
@@jerryuk93 Yeah, if one pad, or only left/right side was to the metal, but if both.. Very unlikely have both calibers seized.
@@jerryuk93 Yes the pads being metal on metal could of been caused by many things. Sezied sliders or pads stuck in the carrier etc etc. I didnt strip it down so i dont know. But id assume if there were any issues he would of said. He didnt. So assuming everything was working as it should. An nothing was stuck seized or broken. Then it can only be down to the driving style.
@JerryUK an my point was that some employee's do not treat there company vehicles the way they should. Wether tom is competent or not in repairing them wasnt what i was commenting on. I just gave one of my own experiences relating to the information he gave.
@@jerryuk93 👍
Tom you need to keep these kinds of videos going bloody loved it.
For the rope situation, I’m not a expert but surely working on the bucket truck at the top of the house is the same as scaffolding so can’t see a issued in a domestic setting using a stretchy harness, I don’t know if it’s the same with highways but maybe you could use stretchy for domestic and the rope for highways.
I would suggest doing a harness course on top of what you have already done. Also to improve the barcode system you are using, I would individually barcode everything (obviously with the same barcode number). It's not generally that necessary but it will help with stock counts, keeping track, lower the chance of theft even more & if your company continues to grow it will be something you will probably end up implementing anyway.
The stretchy lanyard is for a fixed point where the distance you might fall is greater than the length of the stretchiness (+extra obviously). If you use that in the boom you might find that you may fall and hit a building or even hit the floor as the amount of strech is lower than the distance to the nearest thing. The work arrest shouldn't allow you to escape the bucket.
They may not tell you what each harness is for but they tell you what lanyard to use. They only tell you which to use for a reason so you shouldn't think it's okay to mismatch. A harness course is definately a good shout for all that
Only thing to add with the barcode system could be a barcode for each person.
5 lights, 2 heat alarms and one electrician 32B means you know who's done what.
Also agree here, much easier to "sign things out" per person that way too :), that will then be linked back to their job too, maybe a barcode on your job sheets too, scan the barcode then scan your items needed. you'll be able to get the costing and data automated then and help the girls out in office too, speeding up everyones lifes
You should also chip tag all your sundries i.e. ladders , safety devices, test equipment etc then you can log servicing/testing requirements ( be it H&S or periodical checks of functionality), life span / replacement, loses for insurance etc. Also it double checks your employees are not using damaged or faulty equipment.
Great video Thomas 👍
Its funny you mentioning the brake pads. We have noticed at my work that with our pickup trucks, even miles per gallon can differ massively between employees day to day despite having the same stretches of road and vehicle.
When doing 3a and 3b courses we were always told to use a fixed line on the basis to keep you in the basket, the extension or fall arrest only work if your above a certain height which won't always be the case
The point of the harnass is to keep you in the bucket in case the whole thing fallsover. If you have a stretchy lanyard (most stretch up to 1.8 metres) you could be launched from the bucket and land underneath it.
BTW love the videos keep them comming.
Running a company with a lot of assets and wanting to hire them out or track them I would recommend using something cloud based. Means your not worrying about backing things up and you can access it wherever (ie on a job checking you have something). We use QR codes so we can use smartphones to quickly scan things rather than having to find the barcode scanned (though we do have hand held 2D barcode scanners).
Hi Tom
I run a M&E. workshop and the Bluetooth scanner wouldn’t work for me but may well do for you as you should have a mostly fixed stock. What I would say is to get a COSHH cabinet for oils, lubes, greases etc and also box your compressor in somewhere out the was as they are noisy buggers But remember to leave a gap for draining the water out the tank 👍
Cheers but keep the content coming
Yes, any aerosol spray cans and containers containing flammable liquids or similar should be stored in a suitable cabinet. Fire authorities are not keen on free range items that can explode if they are involved in a fire.
When I did my IPAF training we were basically told that the length of the strap at full extension should be short enough that you don't fall out of the mewp whether its a stretchy one or a fixed rope or one of the ones that has a small bundled length of rope in the middle that snaps open when its used it just shouldn't be longer than necessary .
Bare minimum is that you wont hit the floor but ideally it should be short enough to keep you in the basket
You might trust everyone you employ now but you don't know in the future and if people know stock is checked they will not be tempted
I would recommend having a minimum stock level. So once you have went below a set stock level it will automatically prompt you to re order . If you want to set up a min stock level take into consideration is it a high usage item and the lead time for your supplier so you don’t run completely out
I don't know how anyone working in London manages to gather enough speed to wear out brake pads.
Great to see you going to fault call outs again, and your process to find the issue, trying to avoid removing the fridge yet typically was a case of "what lies beneath/behind" 🤣 All very useful stuff and advice though.
When I did my ipaf years ago it was the same, no info on harnesses. I had to do a separate harness course, that went into detail, it allowed me to inspect and certify my harness as needed for the 12monthly check.
You could use the existing UPC barcodes on the boxes of your inventory items. Then you get the barcodes for free, and you can still scan them if they get mixed up. Also people can search for the UPC and order replacements/ get details etc directly
best way of keeping note of stock? order what you need, dont be too picky over items that cost a quid, stock 2 or 3 of each commonly used outlet/switch in a van and youre sorted, replace as needed.
if youre taking stock of screws etc, you have too much time thats better spent on making more money than stocking could save you
Doing jobs in house that are not revenue generating activities can be a false economy depending on the numbers. For example. Having the electrician working on the van makes the business $0. Having them out on the road say they are bringing in $100 an hour. If a mechanic charges $75 an hour. You still come out $25 ahead vs $0. Plus a mechanic will already have all the tools and probably be able to turn around jobs quicker. Also you need to think about insurance and if you are covered for these activities.
Chances are Tom will do the work in his own time. He is a business owner so I doubt he works employee hours
I had to do a separate harness course. They go through all the different categories and safety of harnesses. Definitely worth doing.
Guy Martin recons he's had the same pads on his van for the last 20 years.
Guy Martin will say anything to stay relevant lol
@@Digitall3 Jealousy will get you nowhere.
Like you're even relevant......
@@mikeZL3XD7029 that almost makes sense, well done.
You can have one set a pads for 100 years, it really doesn't matter if that van done just 10 000 miles in 100 years and from 10000 miles 9000 were done on motorway. You are not using break pads by years, you are using pads by mileage, weight, traffic and your style of breaking. :)
The pads can wear at different rate ie depends on stopping an starting. Weight inside the van will cause more wear on the pads too
Great to see it all coming together. Like the way you're planning way to cut overheads long term 👍
It's a little late for that ...lol
Bar codes sound good, I would do a full stock take say once a month to check everything is OK and with things coming back
you need someone to be stock controller in hq tom, that way you can lob whats needed at em, they can prep it in a crate or box and then you just run in, grab the box, run out... well its an idea anyway!
i agree on sockets behind white goods! never should be behind, should be somewhere easy to access!
About the brake pads:
My new vehicle uses regen braking as often as it can vs the actual pads (As is becoming more commonplace with hybrids and everything).
I've owned the vehicle for about 6 months now and only used the actual brake pads 4 times since I obviously want to use regen braking as much as I can and thus usually slow down early enough to use it all the way to when I have to stop.
I think your quite right. As a business owner you have to look after the business as No1 priority,and stock checking is just one of those things.
Like you say it's not distrust,just business.
Loving the weekly up dates bud
I use sage for stock, pricing and invoicing. Very easy to use and you can set it all up for any user.
anyone else like when he says "give me 5" or "let me just park up" hahah makes me feel so like ... In the van hahah
Tom, have a look online for software called Fiix. It is now owned by Rockwell automation. I have set this software up for several businesses now. It keeps track of inventory, jobs and outstanding work. You can also add parts to work orders so it keeps it all together with prices. You can also have it on mobile phones and use them as a scanner for the QR codes.
Hi Tom - Great idea for the breakers, only thought I would have is how would you get on under ISO9001 for QA / traceability? Also do You give the customer a "caveat" if you have to use a "second hand" breaker? (Basically because it's not "brand new") (Don't get me wrong, most "second hand" breakers are fine, obviously can be thoroughly tested, I'm just thinking how you would keep any "QA" type system happy). The fact you already have stuff neatly on racking is good - all your "pre enjoyed" breakers potentially have a "QA Quarantine area". Your stock control system and other things might seem a bit OCD - but I suggest if you are going for ISO9001, most of your systems will already be in place. Obviously for ISO9001 to "work", everybody has got to take it "on board".
I've had various experiences with ISO9001 with companies - don't get me wrong - it's good if implemented sensibly, but I feel that it is healthy not to forget, that ultimately it could mean a company just produces crap to a consistent standard.
Also I like like the bit where you are getting a bit "out of the loop" with staff, so that staff can do jobs "when Tom isn't there". Again, I suggest this is a prime thing ISO auditors look for, "what would happen if Joe Bloggs suddenly went ill". Basically can anyone else pick up the procedures and "run with it"? (Obviously within their qualification / competence).
Anyway, just a few thoughts.
Having a unit as a electrician is a excellent idea. Well done Tom 👍
Stretchy lanyards are fall arrest. They're designed to reduce the force felt in the event you fall.
For cherry pickers you should use a fall restraint, like the fixed rope lanyard. They're designed to prevent you getting in to a position where you can fall, but not to reduce the force felt during a fall.
The cheapest place for cones is the side of the road 🤣
When I did my high height course for my earlier employment we didn't even learn how the harness were put on.. We bought their package and got those lanyards with a dampener in line. And the courseleader were only talking about his job on windmills and when he races his MC on courses.
We use the stretchy lanyard harness for climbing wind turbines
Across the ocean where I live outlets behind appliances is a common practice, as 9/10 fridges I've seen are standalone and have wheels underneath, if the outlet goes wrong just roll the fridge out and get to work, non integrated electric stoves and dryers are a pain because we have 2 or 3 types of high voltage plugs and 2 different leads, 3/4 pin, 3/4 wire, so you have to pull the appliance and unplug it to find which type of cord or receptacle you need
Using the product's existing EAN/UPC barcode for your inventory system will help. When the product isn't on the shelf with your sticker how would you identify the product code quickly.
stick a tracker box on the employee vehicles, you have to make them aware, some have acceleration and braking sensors on. It will annoy them t first but they will start to look after the vehicles. Always have them sign out drivers and log dates and times. Otherwise they will take the piss.
As others have said, screw a load of din rail on that partition wall, for your breakers, make use of it.
Renault wanted £300 to change the pads on my traffic, bought the pads from autodoc for £60(brembo), a local guy fitted them, and done an oil and filter change, and only charged £140 for the lot, with him supplying the oil and filter, not worth me getting my hands dirty, but Renault are robbing barstewards.
On the start of the week have the employees do a van stock check and sign off against it and end of the week they do another and it should match up with jobs done to goods used.
If as you say the van is shared then even more important to have it done when someone else takes it. Sound bit of a faff, but can save you £100’s in costs especially when the goods used are easily sold.
Things are coming along nicely Tom keep it up.. loving the unit.
Really enjoy the business talk videos! The stock system is a good idea, I always say organization is one of the main factors when running a successful business. Also totally agree with the ramp. Always best to be able to do things yourself if you have the ability and time, always a chance of being let down when having to rely on other people.
erm... stock management using the scanner and barcode system isn't overkill... who thinks that? It is going to save so much time and money on dithering around wondering if you have something or not. It will also reduce customer disappointment of hearing "I don't have that part I will have to order it" I think the organisation looks very efficient and professional.
It is overkill for such a small team. The main benefit in having some stock, is saving time driving to, and standing in wholesalers. Its not about operating like another branch of Screwfix. Expensive items can be kept under lock and key, and anyone who's on the rob, when there's only a handful of staff, is as dumb as a box of rocks.
Amazing. Large companies outsource stuff they don’t specialise in. Tom buys a ramp. Good on you if it makes financial sense. What about one of them hydraulic lifts which won’t take up too much floor space when not in use?
Maintaining the company’s cars yourself only makes financial sense if Tom does the work himself. If he uses his workers to service the car, maintenance is likely to become more expensive compared to a professional garage. He has to pay the employee a salary and he loses billable time for real jobs.
One may also wonder whether it makes sense to use the boss’s time for car repairs or whether it would make more sense to use it for quote calculation and administrative tasks.
Large companies also piss people off when their customers call them and get some woman from Calcutta that has no idea what the English language is or where you live in the world.
Isn't out-sourcing fucking great.......
@@peto22 Very much depends on the business. It's likely that in any 6-month (or however long) period there's going to be a job cancelled or a few hours unbooked. Perfect time to say "OK mate, get your oil filters changed." The employee is on the clock anyway.
As an aside, this is not a normal business. While it may not make sense for most bosses to do some of these tasks, "Nagy changes brake pads" is going to get 50k views, so it probably pays off.
I wonder are you increasing your risk of being sued by doing all your own maintenance. For instance if one of the vans had a brake failure all the responsibility would be on Tom.
Just a thought why dont you buy a few full length din rail mount this to a wall? clip breakers on , easier to group and see at a glance and also can be used in van to hold spares,
Fudging good idea, we’ll just do that. CHEERS 👍🏻
Tom on the harness discussion we have 6 monthly inspection performed by someone who has done a harness inspection course. I think under the PPE regs it was a legal requirement to inspect every 12 months. Alot of companies also like MEWP operators to use tool tethering. The only issue i can see regarding the Ramp is you proving competency to work on a vehicle. If something goes wrong how can you prove you are suitably qualified to perform maintenance on vehicles on the road? Its okay when its your personal car but when it moves into business it could get complicated.
Love that... I fit kitchens, you're the 1st sparks I've ever come across that thinks sockets behind white goods are a crap idea.... Keep spreading the word..