"We take responsibility"

BEUMER Residential Service takes care of smooth material flows of customers – even on the customer's site: For BEUMER Group, Customer Support is much more than just a service. Approximately 1,000 employees worldwide now work for this business segment. They take care of the customer, starting with the first project discussion, through the time when the system is in operation. The offered portfolio includes different services, in particular Residential Service. With this service, companies can hand over the complete responsibility for availability, performance and economic efficiency of their material flows to BEUMER specialists, who ensure trouble-free operation of the systems – and even stay permanently on the customer's site. As an international manufacturing leader in intralogistics providing customised system solutions in the fields of conveying, loading, palletising, packaging, sortation and distribution technology, BEUMER Group knows the particular challenges posed by the customers. They have high demands on machine availability and, therefore, on customer support. This is why the system supplier has developed and extended its customer support and established it as a business segment in its own right. Due to its global positioning, the group has consistently optimised and extended this segment with specifically trained employees during the last few years. "We're not only providing service products, we really take care," emphasizes Guido Hesse, Director Customer Support at BEUMER. "This becomes more and more important to users from different industries." A continuously high level of availability has to be ensured to enable companies to stay competitive. Enough time to focus on the core business BEUMER Customer Support offers customised service agreements to customers. These include, for example, the supply of spare parts, preventive as well as routine maintenance, and the operation of the systems. They are matched individually to the respective needs of the customer, including service intervals and response times as agreed by contract. "More and more manufacturers, especially logistics service providers, wish to concentrate on their own core business and to delegate the responsibility for their systems and machines", says Hesse, identifying a pronounced trend. "Therefore, Residential Service plays an important role within our Customer Support portfolio." This service means that BEUMER employees take on the responsibility for operating times, performance and economic efficiency – if necessary, they stay permanently on the customer's site. The systems have to be always perfectly adapted to their tasks, and all processes have to run smoothly. "In a highly competitive environment, we convince our customers with reliability and a high level of system availability," explains Hesse. Successful customer support requires an understanding of the mentality of the customer: How is the customer positioned? What are his goals and how does he want to develop in the future? These questions require tactfulness and cultural know-how. Reliable operation increases turnover A sports manufacturer, for example, relies on this service at his new distribution centre. The newly leased 40,000-square-metre warehouse complex is in the immediate vicinity of the extant building. Both buildings are linked to each other by an approximately 370-metre-long conveying system. In the head office, the supplies for retailers and distributors home and abroad are processed, while the internet orders from all over Europe are exclusively handled in the additional warehouse complex. The company intends to significantly increase its turnover in the E-commerce sector. Up to 200,000 online orders per day are supposed to be processed at peak times. This calls for efficient material flows and reliable technology. The new building houses fully automated rack systems with about 300,000 storage places, order picking solutions, packaging stations and more. The biggest part of the intralogistics system is an almost nine-kilometre-long conveying system. "The roller conveyors and belt conveyors link the individual areas with each other and transport the goods from A to B", explains Günther Rother, Maintenance Manager at BEUMER Group. He belongs to a team of 70 service technicians who are working in five shifts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to ensure smooth processes on site. Smooth operation throughout the service life To ensure that the systems are always perfectly adapted to their tasks and all processes run smoothly throughout their service life, BEUMER employees also carry out preventive maintenance. Günther Rother explains: "This way, we can avoid uncontrolled machine breakdowns, which can be very expensive for our customers." The team carries out maintenance and inspection work on the systems at defined intervals. "We remove dirt, for example, since it may affect the operational reliability of machines and systems", says Rother. "Movable parts are lubricated and correctly adjusted if necessary." The team checks the safety devices of the machines and systems as well as their electrotechnical components and automation technology. Further work includes corrective maintenance like fault diagnostics and troubleshooting or repairs due to unscheduled failures of components. "We develop and implement concepts which enable a long-term and trouble-free operation of the buildings", adds the maintenance manager. The employees check the technical installations and maintain them regularly, at agreed intervals.