The choice is yours

7 April 2011



Converting sector suppliers are diversifying service options to get close to offering bespoke solutions. Deirdre Mason reports.


A company’s reputation can be made or broken by the standard of its after-sales service to purchasers, and this is as true for the manufacturers of converting machinery as for any other sector of manufacturing. As competitive pressure grows, customers are demanding after-sales care that keeps their machines running for longer and with fewer breakdowns. They also expect problems to be solved as quickly and economically as possible.

So what is out there? Service packages can vary considerably. There is still considerable reliance on trained engineers who respond to call-outs, but there are the alternatives of outsourcing the service to outside companies, allowing customers to contact trained technicians via call centres for initial technical support and help, and websites offering the customer advice and service manuals to download for their particular machine.

Universal Converting Equipment, in the UK, continues to offer traditional aftercare based on having a team of trained service engineers in place, who not only understand the operation of the machines but who have experience of running this type of machine.

“Combined with training across the engineering disciplines, it allows the engineers to diagnose quickly and correct problems that may be occurring,” Universal says.

Beyond sorting out the immediate problems, the engineers can assess the machine as a whole, and present a plan of work for improving the machine and keeping it in good running order.

Is the package standard? “It varies from one customer to another,” Universal says. However, a typical package starts with an MOT-style checklist of the machine, and then a list of work needed along with costs and time to complete. Once the work is completed, the service team agrees a plan with the customer for periodic service visits.

Major companies have to keep ahead of the game too. Japanese giant Mitsubishi set up a new company for printing and paper converting machinery, operational since last September (2010). Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Printing and Paper Converting Machinery Sales Co has its European headquarters in Leeds, UK.

Again, although this company is a world giant, it prefers to rely on a tried and tested model for after-sales care. Patrick Brennan, in charge of the technical services division at Leeds, explains: “We have distributors throughout the UK and Europe, and we rely on them to provide the warranty, service coverage and beyond to the customer. In some cases, this can be 24-hour coverage.”

However, the company ensures that there are always spare parts for all the machines it sells available at HQ in Leeds, and the distributors’ technicians can call on Leeds for further assistance if a problem proves to be beyond their capabilities.

“We have both UK and Japanese technicians available who are prepared to travel. We can offer remote advice, but usually, a problem needs work on site by a trained engineer.”

In Italy, Uteco Converting uses a separate company - 3S Converting - part of the Uteco Group, to provide after-sales care. Its service package offers a 24-hour hotline, staffed by people qualified to give fast answers on correct maintenance, repair and maintenance of machinery.

“We can provide immediate analysis of faults and the solution online,” a company spokesperson says. Data, 3S assures customers, is transferred with maximum security and protection electronically.

Along with preventative programmed maintenance and personalised contracts, the company can also transfer machinery and plant between factories to reduce downtime, and offers a team of specialists to fine-tune processes to make sure that plant and equipment is used as efficiently as possibly once installed.

Manroland Great Britain believes that offering customers a remote diagnostic service and a range of after-care contracts from ‘basic’ to ‘supreme’ has brought considerable confidence to the market.

Sales manager Adam Robotham explains how the company’s Telepresence works: “We have a direct link to field staff and the office. A customer with a problem emails us with details, which go to the office and the area manager. The engineers can then electronically ‘come in’ to the customer via the webcam installed in the machine and give a diagnosis on line, showing the customer what’s wrong.

“The maintenance manager can tell the operator what needs to be done, using a traffic light system for priorities.”

Once the diagnosis is complete, a ‘flesh and blood’ engineer can then come on site, if necessary. However, says Mr Robotham, 75% of the queries are solved via the Telepresence system. The company’s more than 30 service engineers all work for manroland, and no servicing work is subcontracted.

“Our engineers are often with us for 20 or 30 years,” says Mr Robotham. “We keep up their training for new machines and upgrades, and this training takes place at the company’s German headquarters in Frankfurt.”

Generally, spare parts can be dispatched 24 hours a day from the UK company but, if necessary, parts can also be dispatched either overnight from Frankfurt or, in the case of an emergency, they can be biked from there via the Channel Tunnel directly to the customer.

What if a converting business wants to have its own trained technical services team on site? Fabio Perini, in Italy, offers training courses for staff with responsibility for running the machines, overseeing health and safety and getting the best value out of the production process.

The company’s training centre offers ad hoc courses run by qualified personnel, aimed at giving the converting industry the appropriate knowledge of the systems they are using, and favouring exchange of experience through Technical Improvement Programmes.

“These enable our customers to renew their machinery and to keep equipment up to date,” says the company.

Generally, Fabio Perini’s technical service package offers help over the phone initially, or visits directly to the premises. For parts, every branch office has access to the company’s central system around the clock.

Similarly, Ronco Europe, with its headquarters in the UK, offers operator training for new and existing machinery along with technicians who can provide on-site diagnosis of a customer’s machinery problems.

Self help

Increasingly, purchasers of converting machinery in the UK are being given the option of helping themselves before calling for on-site visits. Ashe Converting Equipment, in the UK, promises that ‘a quick telephone call or email will get you back on track, fast’.

RH Plastics Technology, also in the UK, offers specialist technical advice over the phone and training courses and retraining for customers’ operators and technical staff.

“The training we offer can be used to introduce new operators to the relevant machinery regulations, or update existing operator, setter and technical department awareness on safety and correct set-up and operation of high frequency welding machinery,’ the company tells Converting Today.

RH is very specific about the different regulations to which its technical services comply, and is an ISO 9001:2000 registered company.

“We can offer contracts for between one and four visits a year, and we guarantee all our work,” it says.

There is, too, the environment to consider. US-based global firm Kaeser Compressors, with bases across Europe, makes compressed air machinery for use in the paper and converting industries along with other clients. The company’s Sigma Air Service handles maintenance and servicing, promising a ‘holistic’ approach. But what is this in practice?

“Depending on the compressed air installation’s duty cycle, energy costs may account for up to 90% of the total costs for compressed air production,” states the company. “For this reason we advise our customers to have a service technician inspect the entire system closely - not just individual components - at least once a year.”

If clients do this, according to Kaeser, the maintenance service can help to reduce energy consumption by up to 30%.

Management software packages are another trend for businesses that want to manage the servicing side as efficiently as possible. One company in the USA that is offering a package specifically for the converting industry is Verticent.

The company states that its ERP Suite offers the front office applications that automate sales, marketing and customer support operations. Compatible with Windows 7, the support element of the ERP software suite is designed for help desk support, includes a knowledge database, contracts, guarantees, product registration, and return and repair services, among other features.

Although most of the big manufacturers and suppliers tend to have their own servicing departments, or else delegate it to their distributors, there is still room for independent companies set up specifically to service converting machinery.

The UK-based machinery supplier Engelmann & Buckham offers its customers the chance to email the company or fax for specific spares, preferably including machine type, serial number and product code. Similarly, on service support, customers can email or fax details of the machine type and serial number for help with a problem.


One of manroland’s Telepresence team helps a client diagnose a problem. Manroland A specialist engineer at RH Plastics adjusts a machine. RH Plastics One of Universal’s maintenance team gives a machine a thorough check. Universal A Sigma Air Service technician makes a diagnosis. Sigma Help is at hand over the phone, but sometimes companies still require physical visits for equipment services. Phone

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Universal
Mitsubishi
3S Converting
Manroland
Fabio Perini
Ronco Europe
RH Plastics
Kaeser
Ashe
Verticent
Engelmann & Buckham

Phone Phone
Sigma Sigma
Manroland Manroland
Universal Universal
RH Plastics RH Plastics


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