The Service and Repair of Overseas Units

by Stanley Lindquist

George: Boy, this situation is confusing. I’m trying to sort it out. Sam, will you help me? Having our units overseas can cause some real problems.

Sam: Yes, it can, but that doesn’t mean it’s hopeless. These units cost about $150,000. Most work well, but too many seem to operate at 25 percent capacity. This one has broken down and has to be sent back.

George: Boy, this situation is confusing. I’m trying to sort it out. Sam, will you help me? Having our units overseas can cause some real problems.

Sam: Yes, it can, but that doesn’t mean it’s hopeless. These units cost about $150,000. Most work well, but too many seem to operate at 25 percent capacity. This one has broken down and has to be sent back.

George: Who made them? Why are some of them working at such a low capacity? Why aren’t the broken units being fixed and put back into service?

Sam: Well, to answer your first question, most units are made in America by a team of exceptionally fine producers. The manufacturers know how to make the units, how to fit them together with exceptionally close tolerances. They are often imaginative and creative in designing units for new and different purposes.

George: If they are so good, why aren’t the units working here?

Sam: Well, there are many-reasons. One is that the unit design may work quite well in the U.S.A., but over here it doesn’t. Some units can produce a great deal, but the product isn’t suitable to this place, or the demand for the output isn’t great. The material doesn’t cross the acceptance barrier, so the unit has to be turned down. As a result, it overloads and becomes inefficient.

Another reason for low production is that the strains on a unit out here are unusual. The humidity, heat, and friction are different from home. As a result, there are small shutdowns. Some part malfunctions. The unit gets too hot or too cold, and it stops. Sometimes it races away and even causes damage. Its reaction to people and weather "are just like humans."

George: Well, if that’s the case, why isn’t something being done about it? Why isn’t it being modified, so it won’t break down that way? Why aren’t those that have broken been fixed?

Sam: It becomes a matter of priorities. Managers don’t want to spend additional funds to prevent the breakdowns, and the units themselves seem to "want" to go overseas in a hurry. Much money is spent on design, but little on practical preparation to tailor the unit for its operation in the unique place where it is to work.

People hesitate to pay for preparation or repair, and as a result send more units over, while some of those already here are not working efficiently. This compounds the problem.

George: But that’s wasteful. Does it cost an excessive amount for that kind of preparation or repair?

Sam: Actually the cost is minimal. A $150,000 unit may be saved by spending a few hundred dollars. Better still, the breakdown can often be prevented by realistic and practical preparation, or on-field maintenance which is also a fraction of the total cost.

George: Why isn’t this being done?

Sam: Again, it is a matter of attention to priorities. People will give money for new units, but the attractiveness of providing service and repair is not as great. Only the mature and far-sighted will give funds for that purpose. Management tends to be seduced into the same trap and does not adequately provide for that service.

The result is that the home office tends to enthusiastically support the new units, but is meager in support of the ones needing help. Yet, these units are potentially more effective than the costly new ones.

George: What can be done?

Sam: I have traveled thousands of miles and visited thousands of these units. What I say here I have heard, seen, and observed from hundreds of places.

The results of these observations make it clear to me. First, publicize these conditions so people will know. Second, change the assembly lines to meet the practical needs as well as the other needs.

Third, give final production tests which involve more than a day or two before the units are sent out. Fourth, send more teams to modify units on the field where it is clear that needs are present, and where in-service work can be performed to increase productivity.

Fifth, when units are sent home for check-ups, refuse to work them so hard that when they return to the field they are worn out. Sixth, if a unit needs practical servicing, provide it so it can be restored and sent back or relocated.

George: Aren’t any of these things being done now?

Sam: Yes, but only on a limited scale, and on a limited budget. A few dollars spent this way can save millions later on.

George: You sound like the units can almost "feel" and that they would be "happier" if some of these things were done.

Sam:They do feel. These units are missionaries. The problems described, with minor modifications and much simplification, are the ones that missionaries on the field describe. They realize their needs after they get to the field, but sometimes that is too late. They need to be heard. We need to listen and help.

POSTLUDE
Most missionaries are succeeding. Yet, even the successful ones recognize need for help – for themselves, and for their fellow workers who are finding the work difficult. They know where areas of need are. Everywhere the story is the same. In spite of the problems mentioned, much is being accomplished. People are being regenerated and set on new paths.

Perhaps that is why Christians at home are lulled to sleep and don’t realize what might be done, if there were a few modifications made in training, pre-field orientation, on-field stimulation, furlough enrichment and healing, psychotherapeutic help for those who have had to return.

COPING ABROAD
At one point or another in their careers, thousands of executives are forced to decide, "Am I really suited for an overseas assignment – and is my family?" Companies also fret about which people to send abroad, and make plenty of errors. According to Joseph M. Fabricatore, a consultant who helps select and train personnel for overseas jobs, many companies find that over 25 percent of the people they send abroad must be returned prematurely, at a cost that often exceeds $50,000. Mr. Fabricatore estimates that 15 percent to 20 percent of a typical group sent overseas, especially to a hardship post, will suffer increased marital stress, drink more heavily or encounter serious performance problems. "Whatever their problems were before, they’ll probably get worse overseas," he adds. – Roger Ricklefs, The Wall Street journal, Nov. 20, 1978.

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Copyright © 1979 Evangelism and Missions Information Service (EMIS). All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from EMIS.

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