Feeling Good About Service
Predictable maintenance costs, reliable production and
customized service packages - these are just some of the benefits
of Systemservice from Heidelberg that numerous print shops around
the world have already discovered, among them Hammer-Lübeck
Faltschachtelwerk. This company based in the northern part of
Germany opted for long-term service agreements when purchasing new
equipment.
Ralf Linnerth thinks back in horror to December 12, 2008. "We were making folding cartons for a trade fair and were under enormous time pressure when our Dymatrix die cutter suddenly ground to a halt," recalls Hammer-Lübeck's Technical Manager. The fault occurred at the worst possible time - Friday afternoon. And the customer was expecting 500,000 folding carton blanks by the following Tuesday. Linnerth initially tried to rectify the fault with his own team, but in vain. He then phoned the Heidelberg site in Mönchengladbach. The Systemservice emergency service unit immediately arranged to send a repair team to Lübeck over the weekend. Despite the lack of warning, the necessary service parts also arrived in time.
"The entire feeder had to be dismantled, but there was no time for lengthy troubleshooting," recalls Linnerth. "Consequently, the service team decided to replace the entire register system at the same time. That was the best way of ensuring we could resume production quickly," he adds. The "weekend rescue mission" was a success. The very next day the print shop was able to continue die cutting and all the folding carton blanks were sent out to the customer on time. "Thanks to the rapid response from Heidelberg, we ultimately lost only a single shift," says Linnerth.
Customized service agreements. Hammer-Lübeck did not need to worry about the cost of calling out the service engineers - thanks to "Systemservice36plus." This service program is automatically included in the purchase price of a new Heidelberg machine for customers based in Germany. It covers virtually all service costs for a period of 36 months, including repairs, service parts, software updates and three inspections. Hammer-Lübeck also opted for an enhanced service agreement model - the Heidelberg Partner Program. This modular, customized service offering was geared to the print shop's specific service requirements. Hammer-Lübeck had a choice of various service packages such as "Repairs and Troubleshooting," "Service Parts Supply" and "Machine Maintenance." "This means that each customer only receives and pays for the service packages they actually need," explains Temur Karbassioun, Senior Vice President Systemservice at Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Vertrieb Deutschland GmbH. Customers consult with Heidelberg in advance to determine which service modules are appropriate.
"Print shops often only sign up for the Partner Program option once their basic Systemservice 36plus package has expired to ensure they still have access to our services, but an increasing number of customers are following Hammer-Lübeck's example and opting for the Heidelberg Partner Program when they first purchase their equipment, thereby ensuring reliable planning," explains Karbassioun. The folding carton manufacturer used the Partner Program to extend the service coverage to five years for some of its Heidelberg machines and an amazing seven years for others.
Reliable planning despite a change of manufacturer. In addition to this package, Hammer-Lübeck agreed to a 95-percent machine availability level for the two Dymatrix 106 CSB Pro die cutters installed in November 2008 and August 2009. The same applies to the Speedmaster XL 105 six-color press with coating unit purchased at the end of 2008, and to the brand new Speedmaster CD 102-6+LYL located at the Polish branch in Poznan, 174 miles (280 km) from Berlin, rather than at the company headquarters in Lübeck. The unusually high safeguards Hammer-Lübeck has put in place for the equipment in operation on both sides of the German-Polish border obviously cost quite a lot, but in return the company knows that Heidelberg service engineers will carry out machine maintenance and other measures outside "normal" working hours if necessary - virtually around the clock, including weekends. "We need to be able to plan our long-term maintenance costs for our overall costing." Ralf Linnerth, Technical Manager of Faltschachtelwerk Hammer-Lübeck.
The print shop opted for this special safeguard because reliable production is an absolute must for the three-shift operation with its 240 staff. Nevertheless, Hammer-Lübeck is also very impressed with the high quality of the standard Heidelberg Partner Program. "We need to be able to plan our long-term maintenance costs for our overall costing," stresses Linnerth. Another reason Hammer-Lübeck was keen to ensure reliable planning was that it is using more Heidelberg equipment than at any time over the past 15 years and is looking to turn this collaboration into a strategic partnership.
Easy on the nerves and on the wallet. "We are convinced that our service agreements significantly lower both direct maintenance costs and subsequent costs," states Linnerth. "It is much more costeffective for us and also easier on the nerves if we adopt a prevention rather than cure approach to faults," he continues. After all, it is not only the actual production stoppage that causes high costs. Resuming the interrupted print job and the employee overtime cost yet more money. A print shop may also run the risk of losing customers if print products are delivered late. And, of course, new orders cannot be started during the downtime. According to Karbassioun, however, there is yet another good reason for signing up for service agreements. "Our services help ensure top print quality and productivity. Another closely related benefit is the resulting increase in the machines' resale value," he explains.
After a year and a half, Ralf Linnerth is completely satisfied with Systemservice and with Heidelberg. He is particularly impressed by the company's service-oriented mindset. "Top priority is always given to machine availability, not the cost of service engineers. In concrete terms, this means that Heidelberg is immediately on hand when troubleshooting is required directly on site," he comments. Thanks to the remote service diagnostics package and 24-hour helpline, though, there is often no need for this.
Ralf Linnerth thinks back in horror to December 12, 2008. "We were making folding cartons for a trade fair and were under enormous time pressure when our Dymatrix die cutter suddenly ground to a halt," recalls Hammer-Lübeck's Technical Manager. The fault occurred at the worst possible time - Friday afternoon. And the customer was expecting 500,000 folding carton blanks by the following Tuesday. Linnerth initially tried to rectify the fault with his own team, but in vain. He then phoned the Heidelberg site in Mönchengladbach. The Systemservice emergency service unit immediately arranged to send a repair team to Lübeck over the weekend. Despite the lack of warning, the necessary service parts also arrived in time.
"The entire feeder had to be dismantled, but there was no time for lengthy troubleshooting," recalls Linnerth. "Consequently, the service team decided to replace the entire register system at the same time. That was the best way of ensuring we could resume production quickly," he adds. The "weekend rescue mission" was a success. The very next day the print shop was able to continue die cutting and all the folding carton blanks were sent out to the customer on time. "Thanks to the rapid response from Heidelberg, we ultimately lost only a single shift," says Linnerth.
Customized service agreements. Hammer-Lübeck did not need to worry about the cost of calling out the service engineers - thanks to "Systemservice36plus." This service program is automatically included in the purchase price of a new Heidelberg machine for customers based in Germany. It covers virtually all service costs for a period of 36 months, including repairs, service parts, software updates and three inspections. Hammer-Lübeck also opted for an enhanced service agreement model - the Heidelberg Partner Program. This modular, customized service offering was geared to the print shop's specific service requirements. Hammer-Lübeck had a choice of various service packages such as "Repairs and Troubleshooting," "Service Parts Supply" and "Machine Maintenance." "This means that each customer only receives and pays for the service packages they actually need," explains Temur Karbassioun, Senior Vice President Systemservice at Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Vertrieb Deutschland GmbH. Customers consult with Heidelberg in advance to determine which service modules are appropriate.
"Print shops often only sign up for the Partner Program option once their basic Systemservice 36plus package has expired to ensure they still have access to our services, but an increasing number of customers are following Hammer-Lübeck's example and opting for the Heidelberg Partner Program when they first purchase their equipment, thereby ensuring reliable planning," explains Karbassioun. The folding carton manufacturer used the Partner Program to extend the service coverage to five years for some of its Heidelberg machines and an amazing seven years for others.
Reliable planning despite a change of manufacturer. In addition to this package, Hammer-Lübeck agreed to a 95-percent machine availability level for the two Dymatrix 106 CSB Pro die cutters installed in November 2008 and August 2009. The same applies to the Speedmaster XL 105 six-color press with coating unit purchased at the end of 2008, and to the brand new Speedmaster CD 102-6+LYL located at the Polish branch in Poznan, 174 miles (280 km) from Berlin, rather than at the company headquarters in Lübeck. The unusually high safeguards Hammer-Lübeck has put in place for the equipment in operation on both sides of the German-Polish border obviously cost quite a lot, but in return the company knows that Heidelberg service engineers will carry out machine maintenance and other measures outside "normal" working hours if necessary - virtually around the clock, including weekends. "We need to be able to plan our long-term maintenance costs for our overall costing." Ralf Linnerth, Technical Manager of Faltschachtelwerk Hammer-Lübeck.
The print shop opted for this special safeguard because reliable production is an absolute must for the three-shift operation with its 240 staff. Nevertheless, Hammer-Lübeck is also very impressed with the high quality of the standard Heidelberg Partner Program. "We need to be able to plan our long-term maintenance costs for our overall costing," stresses Linnerth. Another reason Hammer-Lübeck was keen to ensure reliable planning was that it is using more Heidelberg equipment than at any time over the past 15 years and is looking to turn this collaboration into a strategic partnership.
Easy on the nerves and on the wallet. "We are convinced that our service agreements significantly lower both direct maintenance costs and subsequent costs," states Linnerth. "It is much more costeffective for us and also easier on the nerves if we adopt a prevention rather than cure approach to faults," he continues. After all, it is not only the actual production stoppage that causes high costs. Resuming the interrupted print job and the employee overtime cost yet more money. A print shop may also run the risk of losing customers if print products are delivered late. And, of course, new orders cannot be started during the downtime. According to Karbassioun, however, there is yet another good reason for signing up for service agreements. "Our services help ensure top print quality and productivity. Another closely related benefit is the resulting increase in the machines' resale value," he explains.
After a year and a half, Ralf Linnerth is completely satisfied with Systemservice and with Heidelberg. He is particularly impressed by the company's service-oriented mindset. "Top priority is always given to machine availability, not the cost of service engineers. In concrete terms, this means that Heidelberg is immediately on hand when troubleshooting is required directly on site," he comments. Thanks to the remote service diagnostics package and 24-hour helpline, though, there is often no need for this.
You will find the complete article in Heidelberg News issue 269.
Please use the pdf download on the top right-hand side.
Please use the pdf download on the top right-hand side.
