T. J. Snow Company Adds a Second Airplane for On-Call Resistance Welder Service
To facilitate response time for in-plant service calls, T. J. Snow Company recently added a second small airplane to its transportation fleet.
The 50-year-old company, which sells and services resistance welding equipment at Tier 1 2 automotive parts suppliers and other metal fabricators, has five pilots among its 75-person staff and the two single engine planes are used to fly to locations throughout the eastern two thirds of the U.S.
Since many of its customers supply welded sheet metal parts to automobile manufacturing plants on a æjust-in-timeÆ basis, both airplanes are on call to quickly transport service technicians, specialized trouble shooting instruments and spare parts during an emergency breakdown situation.
Two of the service technicians are instrument-rated private pilots, so they are able to fly themselves as needed, avoiding the additional cost of a corporate pilot.
T. J. Snow's small planes can bypass major airline hubs and land at one of the thousands of small airports that dot the countryside, one of which is usually located only a few miles from the customer needing help.
And, by using one of the speedy planes, which fly direct and non-stop at almost 200 MPH, overall travel time is reduced and the customer's welder can be returned to service quicker.
In addition, when compared to driving or flying on the airlines, the customer's total cost of a service call is often less, especially when an overnight stay can be avoided.
