Hurricane Florence Recovery… addressing the elephant in the room before it’s too late!

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  It will be no surprise to hear how many organizations are caught with their pants down in the wake of Florence.  Unfortunately, even the organizations that believed they were proactive and negotiated priority response contracts with restoration companies prior … Read More

The storm ahead…What you need to know if your data center (or other mission-critical electronics) was in a Hurricane area.

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  Although the 2017 hurricane season is over and many organizations have restored operations, for some there’s an approaching storm that most won’t recognize until it’s too late.  Organizations that have mission-critical electronics that have been shut down because of power … Read More

Simplifying the recovery of mission-critical technology assets…

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    Step 1 – Mitigate further damage and buy some time to explore all recovery options. Step 2 – Establish the recovery plan by engaging all stakeholders and exposing all potential conflict of interests. Step 3 – Initiate the … Read More

Restoring admin operations is not the end-game of disaster recovery

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Many organizations focus only on Task-Critical and Business-Critical operations during the initial stages of disaster recovery.  Organizations have become so entrenched with the IOT (Internet Of Things) throughout their operations that the digital world overshadows the physical world.  Unfortunately, the … Read More

Sometimes it makes more sense to slow down to recover faster…

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Buying time when time matters most…   A large-scale disaster such as Harvey imposes a huge drain of qualified recovery resources for organizations desperate for assistance.  Especially true for mission-critical machinery and equipment assets, the window of opportunity to initiate … Read More

Donut and Discount marketing… at what point does it become unethical (or illegal)?

I posted a blog earlier this week that produced dozens of calls from restoration contractors seeking additional information regarding the services we offer.  I was caught off guard when several of contractors asked me the same question… Can you beat the … Read More

Top 10 reasons why we teach (some) restoration contractors to do what we do for (almost) free…

  Our business model is to develop strategic partnerships with like-minded independent restoration contractors in key markets, versus establishing satellite offices or pursuing the franchise model. We invest in technology, education and partnerships instead of bricks and mortar. We specialize … Read More

Restoration Contractors Gone Wild – Part 2

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Redemption… the only word I can muster to describe how I felt yesterday as I witnessed an Insured admonish an Electronic Restoration “Specialist” that clearly didn’t do their homework.  It’s refreshing to finally have someone other than myself calling-out the … Read More

Obsolete Equipment – How to establish pre-existing condition of “bone yard” assets

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  Many organizations have a tendency to become pack rats, especially when they have surplus storage space.  While most of the corporate hoarders have learned to purge their dated documents, very few have adopted the practice of purging obsolete electronic … Read More

Rule #2 for success in restoring mission-critical assets

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  Talking the talk will only get you so far in the business of recovery mission-critical assets.  At some point you need to deliver.  For some organizations, the “talk” and the “walk” are reasonably presented and balanced.  They live up … Read More

3 things every Contractor should know about Equipment Restoration Specialists

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Most of the recovery processing the vendors provide could be performed better and less expensive by your most experienced general contents cleaning Technicians. The “advanced technology” recovery processing the vendor’s promote is rarely used (< 5% of the units they service).  … Read More

A Matter of Ethics: Facing the Fear of Doing the Right Thing

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Deep in your brain there is a little nugget of tissue called the amygdala.  It’s roughly the shape and size of an almond.  It’s the part of the brain that handles identifying things that scare you and things that make … Read More

When the cure is worse than the disease…

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Several months following a minor incident in a data center (power supply smoldered) unexplained short circuits were plaguing electronic equipment.  After confirming that the failures were not associated with any residual contaminates introduced by the recent incident, we conducted a … Read More

3 questions to answer when your equipment is exposed to smoke…

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    Google the question “can smoke damage electronics” and you’ll have immediate access to over 274,000 results for potential answers to the question.  Clicking any of the links on the first page or two and you’re confronted with some … Read More

Cheating the system on labor rates… How to increase your rate by 277% on Full-Service restoration projects.

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  I get it… most restoration projects require multiple trades and skill sets.  Jack-of-all tradesmen and cross-trained associates are highly sought after and retained in the restoration industry.  I believe, however, that many restoration organizations have pushed the envelope beyond … Read More

Restoration contractors gone wild!

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You’d think that someone claiming to specialize in equipment restoration would understand basic math and economics. Third time in as many weeks that I’ve witnessed technicians “restoring” keyboards valued at $10. Even using their logic (“we only took 5 minutes to restore … Read More

6 Components of Large Machinery/Equipment Recovery Projects

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  Regardless of complexity, all large recovery projects involving industrial equipment/machinery assets can be broken down into  a series of small task-specific components.  The 6 basic components identified below provides a solid foundation to initiate and control the recovery process. … Read More

5 Golden Rules of communicating with OEM’s after a disaster

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  Relying upon the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) or their representatives to provide unchallenged loss assessments generally results in unjustified replacements and excessive claim settlements.  I have found that over 80% of equipment/machinery that OEM’s declare as “irreparable” are, in … Read More

3 steps to prevent latent damage claims

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Lesson Learned – How to keep adjusted files closed! The most effective process to minimize the problem with “latent” content/equipment damages is to ensure that an accurate assessment is conducted as soon-as-possible following the loss incident. Ideally, the assessment should take … Read More

Coming clean in a dirty industry – Part 2

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  Topping the list of “things the restoration contractor doesn’t want you to know” is that an Insured can (and often times should) elect to pocket the money instead of paying the restoration contractor to restore equipment assets.   I encountered an interesting … Read More

Coming clean in a dirty industry – Part 1

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Consider this scenario… A full-service precision machine and fabrication shop experiences a small fire in one of its CNC Machining Centers. The fire was quickly extinguished, but produced a light smoke residue dispersed throughout the facility. The Insurance Company dispatched an Adjuster … Read More

Consulting & Emergency Services

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Consulting Services Residual Chloride sampling and corrosion potential analysis General Assessments/Scope of damage (cost, time, recovery logistics, recommendations, etc.) Appraisals – Certified Machinery & Equipment Appraisals (CMEA), Replacement values (Like kind/like quality, RCV & ACV) and Repair Estimates Business Interruption … Read More

Lightning Damage to Electronic Components

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Claims Adjusting, Lightning Damage, Loss Mitigation, Warranties & Maintenance Agreements While experts claim that the frequency of thunderstorms (lightning) is currently on the increase globally, it still doesn’t account for the seemingly exponential growth in “lightning” claims submitted by Insureds.  The primary reason for … Read More