ThinkTank 2007 The First Monday after Spring Break Kevin Lewis Rensselaer Computer Repair (RCR) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

ThinkTank 2007 Rensselaer Overview Educates the leaders of tomorrow for technologically-based careers Private institution founded in ,200 resident students – 5,000 undergraduate, 1,200 graduate 450 faculty, 1400 staff Schools – Architecture, Engineering, Humanities and Social Sciences, Management and Technology, Science

ThinkTank 2007 History of RCR Originally named Desktop Repair Group (DRG) in 1997 as a spin off from the ITS Network Group with 5 employees - Manager, Assistant, Supervisor, and two Techs Mobile Computing Program began in 1999 – RCR participated in the “Pilot” program and “Recommended” program CIS authorizes two technical FTE positions to support program Goes on line with Service Assistant work-order support Shop is reorganized to handle new level of service to Mobile Computing Program participants RCR is consistently recognized as a Top 50 Premier Warranty Site and the staff has been invited to the Business Partner Invitation Conference in Orlando for 6 of the 7 years the program has been active. Invitation is for "Top Gun" premier business partners with only 10 % eligible within North and South America.

ThinkTank 2007 Come on in!

ThinkTank 2007

RCR Staff Manager 4 A+ Certified Technicians 3 Customer Service Reps

ThinkTank 2007

Custer’s Last Stand Laptops are not like a new car – odd things happen RCR handles equipment that can be up to 5 years old 100+ customers on the first Monday after Spring Break – a lot of people in a short period of time

ThinkTank 2007 Concerns when the volume increases Time – Interruptions increase routine repair times Expectations – Students accustomed to rapid turn around or quick tech support are now faced with increased wait times – Semester pressures may raise students’ expectations beyond reasonable levels

ThinkTank 2007 Effective Triage – 3 to 5 minutes Critical Failures System down – can’t be fixed quickly - Technician assigned Loaner provided Easy Serv for damage repairs requiring 3 or more major assemblies per Lenovo guidelines Non-critical Failures Laptop can be used while parts are ordered or repairs can be performed while customer waits - no loaner provided Failing component(s) identified and parts ordered Repairs are scheduled on receipt of replacement parts

ThinkTank 2007 Loaner Inventory

ThinkTank 2007 Loaner Inventory

ThinkTank 2007 Resource Management Reassign personnel to increase presence in bottle neck areas Double up on counter staff. Reassign staff to cover increased traffic – technicians to front lines Stagger lunch schedules to insure coverage. Supply chain - Monitor parts on order to be aware of backorders which require extended use of loaners and repair delays. Upgrade critical backorder parts to priority code A.

ThinkTank 2007 Getting The Job Done – People Customer service support personnel Technicians Work study students assist with parts, process repairs send to Easy Serv and delivery of finished equipment – Troubleshooting - PC-Doctor, Drive Fitness Test, BIOS-based hard drive diagnostics (Lenovo guidelines) – Service Assistant - a networked online database of service calls and service history, providing easy data entry and retrieval of previous calls

ThinkTank 2007 Service Assistant

Forms Preprinted carbonless loaner forms with easy- to-read entry points for customer required entries Easy tear-offs on Service Assistant repair forms identify failed equipment, or failed part owners, as well as required services, enabling quick efficient identification

ThinkTank 2007 Parts Eclaim for replacement parts National Parts Center for non-warranty replacements Efficient parts handling – Scan incoming parts prior to distribution to techs – Scan outgoing parts to enable effective tracking of required returns (within 30 days), assisting in monitoring the “ Part Reminder 15 day report” in Eclaim

ThinkTank 2007

Some Statistics 2403 ThinkPads repaired between May 2006 and May T60s with a monthly average of 35 (September 06 arrival) T43p’s with a monthly average of 101 T42s with a monthly average of 98 Failed Parts T42’s LCD panels 158 System boards 139 Hard drives 120 Fans 121 Palmrests 115 DC in connector 102 T43p's System boards 300 Fans 205 A/C adapters 91 Hard drives 86 Palmrests 95 T60's Hard drives 102 LCDs 86 Keyboard Bezels 27 System boards 28 Palmrests 27 NOTE: Approximately 20 keyboards are repaired per week which are not reflected in these statistics because no claims are placed.

ThinkTank 2007 Don’t leave your window open …

ThinkTank 2007 Questions?