Mr. Wolfgang Stenzel, recently appointed Head of the highly successful A.Monforts Textilmaschinen’s Service Team, outlines his vision to further improve the company’s service back up to its customers.
Mr. Wolfgang Stenzel recently joined A.Monforts Textilmaschinen as Head of Service, heading a 30-strong team, 25 of whom are based in Germany, with three at the Monforts operation in Austria and one each in Turkey and Thailand. This team is supplemented by a further 25 service personnel employed with local representatives in Italy, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, China and Colombia.
He has a solid background in the textile finishing machinery industry spanning just short of 40 years. He started his career in 1973 with Moenus AG in Mönchengladbach where he worked until 2000 before going on to occupy a prominent positions with Küsters Textile and Benninger.
Outlining his plans to further improve the service back-up for Monforts customers, Mr. Stenzel explained: “Monforts provide a significant number of key guarantees to purchasers of new machines in respect of service, initially involving high quality mechanical installation on site, the commissioning by experienced electronic engineers and the on-site training of the customer’s operator and service personnel. Our support is squarely aimed at establishing high quality and efficient fabric production for the customer with the lowest possible energy consumption.”
Online support is provided free of charge during the warranty period of a machine and for a further month after it expires. The Internet has greatly accelerated what the service team can quickly achieve.
He said: “Over the past five years, we have signed approaching a hundred Teleservice contracts in addition to those that are guaranteed for machines under warranty. This is an aspect of the service we provide that is greatly appreciated by our customers. In 2007 Monforts introduced broad-band ISDN web access connection to our machines worldwide. This provides rapid and easy access to PC, PLC, converters and all software regulators online. It allows us to remotely diagnose and in most cases solve all software-related problems without requiring a technician on site. In the past this would have resulted in delays and machine downtime.”
In addition, Teleservice customers are able to quickly and easily secure spare parts and consult with experienced Service team members on issues associated with several generations of Monforts machines. The aim is to meet the expectations of customers in the shortest possible timeframe and at the lowest possible cost to companies that often may have limited resources in terms of qualified and experienced personnel.
Availability of a range of upgrades and modernization packages has been another highly successful aspect of the Service business in recent years. Upgrades, conversions and modernizations are of very high importance nowadays because the core mechanical parts of a machine will be operational for up to 25 years of production and these components can normally easily be repaired.
Mr. Stenzel further observed: “By contrast, certain components relating to automation such as bus connectors may only last between five and eight years, and the drive systems themselves are good for between eight and fifteen years. The ability to replace these rather than invest in a completely new machine is highly appreciated.”
Energy saving measures have been another important aspect of machine adaptations in recent years.
“Meeting customer expectations is what our business is all about, from the preparation of the next new machine to be delivered and through upgrades and services for the thousands of machines already in day-to-day operation worldwide. It is highly rewarding to be responsible for a really profitable business unit of the company”, he added.