Guidelines comments - replacement budget

[Isaac OLEG]

Hello ,

I have a question about the replacement cost evaluation. Is it fair to
analyze things taking in account the price that should be paid to
obtain new instruments, or is it Ok to compute an inventory
replacement value based on replacement with reconditioned instruments,
of a lesser price.
Indeed if we take a 20 years old grand and we consider it's
replacement value with a new one, the difference is very large.

I just try to obtain a figure that is more acceptable, considering the
fact that even really worn clunkers are producing sound, and that I
suspect I will not easily have admitted the fact that a piano can be
out of use only because maintenance is not planned (it is generally
not planned since 20 years or so, and life goes on ..)

That is mostly a matter of environment, and we are only at the
beginning of the process I'd say, so I try to have their attention and
keep it.

May be a solution should be top propose 2 replacement values, with
second hand  (that they don't buy most often) and with new pianos ?

Any idea, if I am not too much unclear ?

Thanks

Isaac OLEG

Entretien et reparation de pianos.

PianoTech
17 rue de Choisy
94400 VITRY sur SEINE
FRANCE
tel : 033 01 47 18 06 98
fax : 033 01 47 18 06 90
cell: 06 60 42 58 77

> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org]De la part de
> Fred Sturm
> Envoye : mardi 10 juin 2003 01:03
> A : College and University Technicians
> Objet : Re: Guidelines comments
>
>
> Hi WIm,
>  You're right that the numbers crunchers (who seem to be
> the ones in
> charge, at least of the purse strings), would like us to
> give them a cost
> benefit analysis in terms they can easily understand. The
> problem with
> trying to come up with such a thing, as I see it, is that having an
> adequate number of techs per pianos will produce more of a
> qualitative
> difference than a quantitative one.
> 	I think we are saying that, if you want the pianos in
> tune and in
> condition at a level acceptable for higher education use,
> you need to
> invest in this much maintenance. Will it make the pianos
> "last longer?" I
> don't know that it will. Pianos "last" forever (relatively
> speaking). Keys
> continue to go up and down, producing sounds, in most cases
> for 60 or more
> years, barring vandalism, based on one or two services per
> year. So unless
> a firm idea of quality is included in the formula, our workload
> recommendation frankly makes little economic sense.
> 	That said, one useful approach is making the argument
> that replacing parts
> and rebuilding is less expensive than springing for a new
> piano. I suppose
> it might be possible to come up with some kind of
> quantitative formula
> along these lines. Do you have any notions in this regard?
> Cost of new
> pinblock, soundboard, action replacement versus brand new
> instrument, for
> example, extended over time. That more or less assumes
> rebuilding is done
> in-house, though.
> 	A part of our work involves preventive maintenance -
> tightening action
> screws is a good example - but I doubt it takes up a very
> large percentage
> of our time.
> 	Another fruitful approach vis a vis the bean
> counters, in my experience,
> is to look at maintenance and replacement budget as a percentage of
> inventory value (calculated in replacement value terms).
> This is the kind
> of figure they are used to - replacing and maintaining the
> automotive
> fleet, the computers, buildings and the like. Generally they'll be
> astounded at how low our budgets are when seen in these
> terms. We address
> this in the Guidelines in the section labeled Budget.
>
> Regards,
> Fred Sturm
> University of New Mexico
>
> --On Monday, June 9, 2003 5:26 PM -0400 Wimblees@aol.com wrote:
>
> > First of all, thank you Fred and Bill for putting together this
> > Guideline. This document will go a long way towards
> helping universities
> > cope with the piano maintenance problem.
> >
> > In reviewing this plan, there is one thing that I keep
> looking for.
> > Perhaps it's in there, but I can't find it. What I am
> looking for is
> > perhaps the same thing university administrators might be
> looking for,
> > and that is a cost vs longevity ratio.
> >
> > What I mean is, if a university spends x number of
> dollars on inventory,
> > and spends x number of dollars on a technician to maintain this
> > inventory, how long can the inventory be expected to
> last? And what would
> > happen to the inventory if the university spends less on
> maintenance? How
> > much sooner will the inventory need to be replaced?
> >
> > The workload formula tells an administrator how many
> technicians are
> > needed for the number of pianos the school has. But let's
> say a school
> > needs 2.5 technicians for its inventory. What will the
> effect be on that
> > inventory if only 1 full time technician is hired? How
> much more will it
> > cost them in the long run?
> >
> > I realize this might not be something that can be
> predicted, but maybe we
> > can give it a shot. The other problem we might run into
> is a disturbing
> > piece of information I learned last year. Unfortunately,
> what I found out
> > is that even within the music department, much less the
> university in
> > general, most professors, and even the chair of the
> department, don't
> > care what happens 20 or 40 years from now. Most only care
> about what
> > happens next year. Will they have enough money for their
> pet project, or
> > scholarships, and will they get the raise they were
> promised? Most of
> > them would rather spend $10,000 now on scholarships for
> next year's
> > students, to justify their teaching schedule, than
> $10,000 for parts for
> > the pianos so they will last another 20 years.
> >
> > So I realize that providing the information I am looking
> for might not do
> > any good, but I think this is the kind of information a
> school would need
> > to adequately protect their inventory.
> >
> > Wim
> >
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
>