Mechanic Consolidation Cancel The title field is required!

1. Dwayne Dillinger

   

   2 posts
   
   5/14/2019 8:05 AM

   The county I work for is discussing consolidating all the mechanics to one central location. In there mind this would increase efficiency and save money for the county. I understand the logic behind this but see it as a negative impact on the golf operation. The mechanics would work Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm, leaving us with no early morning or weekend coverage. We would also be required to transport our equipment to a central shop for repairs. I have been given 10 days to respond to the consolidation report on why it would be detrimental to the golf operation and why my mechanic should not be included in the consolidation plan. I have a lot of the normal things such as, weekend coverage, ability to correct problems quickly, he does all the operator training and also all welding and fabrication. Just looking for other ideas to add to my report. Thanks for any help Dwayne Dillinger, CGCS Bell Nob Golf Course

   
   
   
   
2. Dwayne Dillinger

   

   2 posts
   
   5/14/2019 8:05 AM

   The county I work for is discussing consolidating all the mechanics to one central location. In there mind this would increase efficiency and save money for the county. I understand the logic behind this but see it as a negative impact on the golf operation. The mechanics would work Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm, leaving us with no early morning or weekend coverage. We would also be required to transport our equipment to a central shop for repairs. I have been given 10 days to respond to the consolidation report on why it would be detrimental to the golf operation and why my mechanic should not be included in the consolidation plan. I have a lot of the normal things such as, weekend coverage, ability to correct problems quickly, he does all the operator training and also all welding and fabrication. Just looking for other ideas to add to my report. Thanks for any help Dwayne Dillinger, CGCS Bell Nob Golf Course

   
   
   
   
3. Gary Carls

   

   19 posts
   
   5/14/2019 12:05 PM

   Dwayne,
   
   This is how much of our operation was set up when I worked for the city. While it was ok to have the central shop people doing some of the routine service it didn't work well for some of the specialized skills needed for the golf course mechanic. Our course mechanic was able to do reel grinding and mower adjustments that the mechanics in the central shop could not do because they weren't trained in the precise tolerances required for the golf course specialty mowers. Other equipment unique to the golf course also required a mechanic on site to work with.
   
   Unlike operations such as parks, street crews, etc. the golf course equipment needs to be fixed in a timely manner which means most often you need someone on site. While it is highly unlikely that someone will complain if a park gets mowed a day late, the golf course customers are going to let you know right away if you skip mowing greens. Your revenue is dependent on providing a product that meets customer expectations and if you don't do that your revenue will be significantly affected. I'm pretty sure your golf course is probably the most significant revenue producer in your recreation programs.
   
   It was also a big hassle to have to transport the equipment back and forth and as budgets got tighter we were actually able to further justify keeping our course mechanic by taking on the responsibility of doing the routine services at the course and within our operating budget. By the time you figure the costs of hauling each piece of equipment to a central location and then picking it up, it was significantly cheaper to use our mechanic to do those services.
   
   Hope this helps some.

   
   Gary K. Carls, CGCS, President - Oakland Turfgrass Education Initiative
   
   
4. Dwayne Dillinger

   

   2 posts
   
   5/15/2019 3:05 PM

   Thanks Gary, Good information

   
   
   
   
5. James Smith

   

   112 posts
   
   6/5/2019 12:06 PM

   How did this turn out for you?

   
   
   
   
6. Roland McPhearson

   

   9 posts
   
   6/17/2019 8:06 AM

   Maybe you can add that you have an Equipment Manager (not a mechanic) that does all that you mentioned as well as diagnose after-cut-appearance issues which can only be done by spending a significant amount of time on the course.

   
   
   
   
7. Bob Pruneau

   

   5 posts
   
   6/29/2019 6:06 AM

   That's just weird . How many times in the run off a day are you disrupted in your work for a break down that can be repaired in a minute . How about this scenario. Aeration day ... club pushes tee times back for maintenance day so after the first green you punch the aerator goes down . Now would you shut things down and load on the trailer to take it to a ( central ) location??????? I bet the club would love you . Or same deal with small equipment getting pull cords repaired .. hey let's load them on a truck and take them to central location ???... regular maintenance.. wrong fuel mishaps .... parts falling off .... welding repairs .. etc...etc.. some days if I wasn't on site there would be a lot of staff sitting around waiting for the central location to repair their equipment. I don't see it working in the golf world . My 2 cents worth ( 20 years in golf ) ridiculous

   
   
   
   
8. Mike Tanis

   

   5 posts
   
   6/29/2019 11:06 AM

   Bob Pruneau said: That's just weird . How many times in the run off a day are you disrupted in your work for a break down that can be repaired in a minute . How about this scenario. Aeration day ... club pushes tee times back for maintenance day so after the first green you punch the aerator goes down . Now would you shut things down and load on the trailer to take it to a ( central ) location??????? I bet the club would love you . Or same deal with small equipment getting pull cords repaired .. hey let's load them on a truck and take them to central location ???... regular maintenance.. wrong fuel mishaps .... parts falling off .... welding repairs .. etc...etc.. some days if I wasn't on site there would be a lot of staff sitting around waiting for the central location to repair their equipment. I don't see it working in the golf world . My 2 cents worth ( 20 years in golf ) ridiculous

   
   Yeah what bob said. As a tech that would be so inefficient for the golf operation. I do a lot of fixing on the course. Saves a lot of time, plus I ride around checking out the course looking at the cut for any visual defects to make sure things are running properly. My heads on a swivel looking at vehicles going by, for low tires, listening etc.

   
   
   
   
9. Melvin Waldron

   

   43 posts
   
   6/30/2019 8:06 AM

   We share a mechanic among our 3 city courses, and there is a lot of inefficiency involved with travel time. Luckily we have some part time pm guys who can keep things serviced and for most minor repairs, (even some major ones) at each of the courses.
   
   The mechanic is based out of our shop since we are sort of in the middle and have the most spare room, at one time they were based out of the park garage, we would be lucky to see him a couple of times a week, unless something broke down, and even then I always thought we were last in line for repairs.
   
   Mel

   
   Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO