From Volume 3 Issue 3 of Connected
In this issue of Connected, we interviewed Travis Stafford, Field Service Technician at our Mechanical Solutions and Service Division.
Can you tell me a bit about your role? Assume I know nothing about it, what does a day-to-day look like in your job?
My job is to provide many services on rotating and electrical equipment. This includes diagnosing equipment problems using vibration analysis, aligning rotating machinery to increase bearing life, using infrared thermography to find electrical issues and much more. Sometimes this includes long days and middle-of-the-night callouts. Then, I create a report outlining my findings and work performed to accurately inform the customer and continue an active predictive and preventative maintenance plan.
Last year, I took on a new role to help lead the seven other technicians who also perform this work for the many customers of Kirby Risk across Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. This new role has me split between being at customer sites performing work and tracking data and ordering equipment to keep our technicians effectively and efficiently serving our customers.
Can you share a customer success story with us?
The one job that sticks out as a great customer success is also one of the longest and hottest days I’ve experienced in this role. Our team spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday repairing and balancing two fans at a customer site. My boss even stepped in to lend a hand. We had six technicians on site for three days in 90-degree heat over a foundry furnace. After the three long days, the customer was ready to start back up from their shutdown and had two smooth-running, balanced fans. Jobs like that make me appreciate all the great people I work with.