Straightforward service

Challenges

Time is money in contract manufacturing, and lot sizes from 1 to 10,000 make the processes more complex. Patrick Genkinger, production manager at Steinhart Metallwarenfabrik, faces these challenges every day. "We supply a large fitness equipment manufacturer, a tractor manufacturer and the TRUMPF company, but also around 250 medium-sized and small customers," he explains. "Everyone insists on quality, short delivery times and high delivery reliability." The company has therefore relied on comprehensive automation of production from early on. But fast production processes alone are only half the battle. "Fast and uncomplicated service is just as important," says Genkinger. "When service is required, first you have to look for the nameplate to get the machine number, or spend hours poring through catalogues to look for the order number for a spare part – I don't have time for that nowadays."

Solutions

Patrick Genkinger only recently became aware of the advantages of the MyTRUMPF online customer portal: "I ordered a motor from a manufacturer that doesn't have an online shop for spare parts. It took me three days to locate the right part. With TRUMPF, that can be done in a few minutes."

Patrick Genkinger mainly uses MyTRUMPF to order spare parts and to buy punching and bending tools. To quickly find the order numbers of spare parts, he uses the "Exploded View" function 95 percent of the time. "It is great. The matter is taken care of in three to four minutes," he explains. When ordering consumables, he enters the order numbers directly using the Quick Order function. "And if I recently ordered a part, I look for the order number in the MyTRUMPF order history. I find what I'm looking for very quickly there," he says with a smile. Genkinger is also impressed with the search function in the e-shop: "It works wonderfully. I buy my tools almost exclusively in the e-shop. The only time I still contact TRUMPF directly is when buying special tools."

Patrick Genkinger is also enthusiastic about the service app, because it saves valuable time. "We communicate almost exclusively via the app. If service is required, I select the malfunctioning machine from the list and request a callback. I like the fact that I can upload pictures. They speak louder than words." After creating the service case, Genkinger can view the processing status at any time via the app or MyTRUMPF. The Technical Guides – Tutorials, which the Service App displays after entering the error number, are a great help. "By using these, we were able to fix almost all of the few service cases that we had in the last two years ourselves," says Genkinger delightedly.

Implementation

Patrick Genkinger has been using MyTRUMPF since 2017 and never wants to do without the advantages of the online platform and the service app. "I order what I need online today and have my parts tomorrow," he explains, adding: "The response time for service calls is also fast and thanks to the technical guides we were able to noticeably reduce the number of service calls." For Genkinger, who is a fan of digitalisation, the focus is not only on functionality but also on the transparency of TRUMPF's digital services: "If I am missing an invoice, I can simply print it out again from the order history in MyTRUMPF. I am kept informed about software updates and in the app I can see who is processing my service case and how far along they are."

Looking ahead

Patrick Genkinger is currently still the only person at Steinhart using the MyTRUMPF online platform and the Service app. That is about to change: "I would like to involve other colleagues soon." And of course he is looking forward to the continuous further development of MyTRUMPF and the Service App. "I will take a look at the Favourites List function when ordering spare parts, and I've already tried out the brand new re-order function. This means that I can easily repeat orders that have already been placed, if necessary," explains Genkinger with satisfaction. "MyTRUMPF and the Service App give me more flexibility and save time because everything is much faster online. It's really a pity – I quite enjoyed my telephone calls with TRUMPF back in the day."