At Fairburn Heating Solutions, our guiding belief is that process heating should never cause downtime. Our vision, values and everything we do for our clients is built on this simple, but powerful belief.
How do we do it?
We work with our clients to help them transition from “reactive repairs” to a philosophy of “proactive asset management”. We take them on the Fairburn Asset Management Journey to reduce breakdowns, grow productivity and transform the performance of their industrial gas heating system.
Does it work?
We get lots of very positive feedback from our clients and whilst many like to remain anonymous, some have allowed us to share great testimonial quotes and case studies.
However, that wasn’t enough for Craig Carr, Managing Director of Fairburn Heating Solutions. As he put it “It’s fantastic when a client tells you how pleased they are, but we wanted to have some more concrete evidence, so four years ago we started tracking the amount of downtime repair work we carried out, to see if it was indeed reducing as we helped our clients move to a more proactive, planned approach to maintenance.”
What are the results?
The early data was very encouraging, but we quickly realised that looking at individual months was potentially misleading due to the inherent unpredictability of breakdowns and some seasonality in the maintenance work we undertake for clients.
To give a clearer picture we decided to track a moving 12-month figure which gives a smoothed figure. This approach is commonly used to track performance where there is seasonality and volatility in the monthly data. Unfortunately, it meant we had to wait a bit longer to see the results which tested our patience! However, we now have over three years data and there is a clear trend with invoiced work from downtime repairs reduced by over 35% compared with 2020 for the same basket of clients.
Doesn’t that mean the business is in decline?
You might think so, but on the contrary, our strategy is not only delivering positive results for our clients, but it has also created the conditions for our business to enjoy sustained growth.
A shift from reactive to proactive maintenance work has allowed us to make better use of our expert engineers and given us the confidence to quote for and win new clients. As a consequence, our business is growing, diversified and more resilient.
In summary, as Craig says “It really is a win-win: our clients suffer fewer unplanned breakdowns, save money and strengthening their customer relationships; while our business continues to grow.”
Can my business benefit from the Fairburn approach?
If you would like to find out more about the Fairburn Asset Management Journey and how we can reduce unplanned breakdowns in your operations, please call us on 01886 5358 025, email totalsolutions@fairburnhs.com or send us an enquiry.