Digital transformation
and customer support services

For nonwoven manufacturers, every day of downtime due to machine failures can result in huge economic losses

Trasformazione digitale e servizi di assistenza al cliente

Introduction

For nonwoven manufacturers, every day of downtime due to machine failures can result in huge economic losses.

It is therefore essential to be able to count on a partner who is ready to intervene quickly and who is able to offer, thanks to an effective customer service, all the possible tools to resolve or prevent any type of problem.

This will allow you to eliminate unexpected downtime, minimize the duration of scheduled interventions and maintain the machinery performance at the highest levels over time.

The new trends in customer service

Due to competition and the global economic situation, nowadays no company can afford to have unexpected machine stops: both the economic losses and the reputational damage can be huge, and coping with them can be a really tough challenge.

It goes without saying that both the responsiveness of the customer service and the timeliness of any on-site intervention are aspects of fundamental importance.

Technological evolution has offered the possibility to go beyond the “traditional” telephone assistance, with its endless waiting times and results that do not always live up to expectations; a situation that precluded a rapid resumption of activity in the event of a breakdown.

From reactive to proactive, towards artificial intelligence

The emergence of new means of communication has meant that today the telephone is just one of the many communication channels available for contacting customer service. The development of digital technology has also changed customer habits, making them more demanding. Now they are looking for personalized experiences, they want assistance at all times and, above all, quick solutions to problems. Customers expect to be able to access 24/7 technical support, with the aim of obtaining a “non-stop” service.

In the Industry 4.0 era, manufacturers must maximize the availability of spare parts for their products, the efficiency of their services and, above all, simplify the experience for their customers. To achieve this result we increasingly use tools such as the Digital Experience Platform (DXP), a software designed specifically to help companies offer a better user experience.

The future of customer service will be centered on artificial intelligence to obtain feedback from customers on the products and services provided, in order to further improve the customer experience from a self-service perspective.

Proactive approach and spare parts warehouse: the future of customer service

Today, the spare parts warehouse must be managed according to a strict rule: work proactively rather than reactively to anticipate customer needs. In practice, this means always having the necessary components available to avoid longer machine stoppage.

In a period in which the availability of spare parts for faulty or worn components can lead to waiting times of several months, it is strategic to be able to rely on a partner who can quickly deliver any necessary part.

Free Ebook - the evolution of customer assistance services

A quick service to limit downtime

This is precisely the rapid and efficient service that A.Celli intends to offer through its new warehouse: a solution that will soon be adopted also in the US branch A.Celli International and, in the future, in China with the aim of ensuring the same efficiency and speed of response to the needs of overseas and Asian customers.

The best-selling consumable parts and critical components in the last 7 years are available in the “new” warehouse: these are pieces which, if deteriorated, compromise the efficiency or prevent the machine from functioning.

An example of a consumable of this type is the particular paper tape used during the doffing phase in a particular model of master roll winder: if it were to break during the roll change, the machine would be forced to stop. In cases like this, the new A.Celli warehouse always has the right spare part in stock, so as to allow customers to be able to resume activity in the shortest possible time. A similar argument obviously applies to electronic or mechanical components.

The maintenance booklet

With the aim of preventing unexpected machine stops and limiting the duration of scheduled ones, A.Celli offers the possibility of using specific maintenance plans.

The service is offered both for any new machinery supplied by A.Celli and for machinery already in operation. In the latter case, the A.Celli technical team, consisting of mechanical engineers and programmers, will visit the customer’s plant to analyze the production needs, examine the machine history (type of product processed, assistance and maintenance services carried out, etc. ) and evaluate the state of the components.

Following the inspection, it will be possible to provide the customer with a description of the interventions to be carried out by A.Celli technicians in the next scheduled machine stop together with the list of parts to be replaced with original components.

Once the machine has been restored to its original condition, A.Celli will finally be able to provide a detailed plan of the interventions to be carried out in the indicated time periods, taking into account the plant operation, the scheduled downtime and the components installed.

Anticipate failures

In cases where the production line has a high level of automation and therefore the machines integrate Industry 4.0 features, such as IoT sensors and Internet connectivity, it is possible to carry out real-time monitoring of the operation of the machines themselves in order to always have the production level and the state of the various components under control.

This makes it possible to implement predictive maintenance, where the real-time indication of operation makes it possible to establish with a high level of precision if and where failures may occur or if a component is approaching the end of its life cycle. This therefore allows you to act in time and with the least possible impact on production, carrying out the necessary interventions to prevent unexpected machine downtime and return to an optimal production level.

The ultimate goal is to ensure that customers no longer rely solely on customer service when a problem occurs, but that the problem is “solved” even before it happens.

Digital services for customer assistance: the new A.Celli service portal

Together with the renewal of the warehouse, A.Celli is implementing a new tool called Service Portal which will move the assistance service more and more towards a “self-service” approach in the name of maximum efficiency. Within this Internet space, customers will find all the documentation relating to their machines and a series of services designed to speed up communication with customer care and thus provide the best possible customer experience.

Access to the Service Portal is allowed only via login and password: this is because entering your credentials allows you to activate a sort of query that shows all the details of the purchased machines, the open tickets and the interventions that have been carried out on these machines.

In addition to the report of the installed machinery, MySpare service will allow you to have a detailed 3D view of each machine, which can be “exploded” to examine each individual component and therefore identify what needs to be changed to solve a specific problem.

The Service Portal will also contain information on the updates available for the machines installed, both for those that can be carried out directly by the customer and for those that require support from A.Celli technicians.

Digital services for customer assistance: A.Celli's new Service Portal

Finally, the Portal will also contain a space reserved for training. Through A.Celli Academy the company aims to educate operators on the functioning of their machines both to maximize their operational efficiency and to enable them to independently solve those problems that do not require the immediate intervention of an A.Celli technician but which can still lead to machine downtime.