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Yup, they are expensive. We have 3 TEMs, 2 FIBs, 4 SEMs, EPMA,
..... all on service contracts. We see a rough rule of thumb across
the spectrum of vendors (FEI, JEOL, Hitachi, Tescan, Cameca) that
the service contract is about 10% of the new purchase price.<br>
<br>
We have used a 3rd party like Specialty Underwriters to "insure" a
few of our instruments and if they are able to provide a contract,
they will provide a 15-17% reduction in contract. It is some
savings, but not the huge savings everyone is looking for. All it
takes is one mid column replacement ($64k for the parts, not
including labor) to realize how much the service contracts can save
you on a big repair. We have been stressing to our administration
that the 10yr cost of ownership needs to be considered when making
capital equipment purchases and an increase in annual budget to
cover the service contract after the warranty must be factored into
the purchase. <br>
<br>
The 3rd party insurance is currently the only alternative we know to
shed some expense. Track your instrument expenses closely and ask
for a detailed breakdown of the service received. You will find a
few instruments are more robust than others and on those you can
move to a 3rd party insurer or completely forgo the service contract
and pay by repair.<br>
<br>
Or start playing PowerBall... and hope for the best.<br>
<br>
Best Regards,<br>
Brent<br>
-- <br>
Brent P. Gila, PhD.<br>
Associate Director, Research Service Centers<br>
University of Florida<br>
1041 Center Drive<br>
Gainesville, Florida 32611<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="Tel:352-273-2245">Tel:352-273-2245</a>, Fax:352-846-2877<br>
email: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:bgila@ufl.edu">bgila@ufl.edu</a><br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2/8/2024 2:30 AM, Johnson, Michael W
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite="mid:SN6PR03MB3533FC17D3AEB0A287335CCDE3442@SN6PR03MB3533.namprd03.prod.outlook.com">
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<div>Does anyone have some statistical information on the costs
of TEM annual service contracts?</div>
<div>I ask because for us, this is the largest cost service
contract of any instrument that we have by far.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I assume very few universities are capable of keeping these
instruments up and running to spec without a service contract.
Am I wrong?</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Is anyone capable of keeping these costs below $100k per
instrument per year?</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Anybody below $50k per year?</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>If so, I would be very interested to know which instrument
manufactures and what strategies are employed to achieve this.
We have FEI.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>-Michael.</div>
</div>
<br>
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