DUISBURG, GERMANY — Brabender strives to keep downtimes as short as possible and the customers’ operating costs low with its 5-Star Service. The German lab equipment manufacturer, based in Duisburg, is offering a number of additional benefits in the category of value-added services. The company’s principle, “where quality is measured,” not only fits to the material testing equipment but also to Brabender’s services.
“We deliver more than just devices,” said Kai Kunicke, director of international service at Brabender. “With our customer service, we want to be able to guarantee that our customers will get measurably high availability of their Brabender equipment. To this end, we feature various offers and are also developing new ones, partly with our customers.”
The Brabender 5-Star Service includes five service areas that are all closely intertwined and include:
1. On-site service to prevent standstill
2. Consultations to help with the replacement of parts when needed
3. 24-hour service line to assist with problem solving to minimize downtime
4. Factory service including shop repair and upgrading older devices the company no longer carries
5. Value-added services
Brabender customers can decide individually in which scope and how often the maintenance and inspections should take place.
“We generally provide solutions that follow the needs of the customers,” Kunicke said. “The smallest service we can offer is an inspection. This can be upgraded to the Standard Preventive Service (SPS). In this process we replace parts, calibrate and perform control measurements. This package in turn can be expanded to include emergency responses with the Premium Service (PS), and with a guaranteed replacement device and short response time to the Full Premium Service (FPS). Everything can be combined — exactly as the customer wishes. For new devices, of course, this also includes an extension of the guarantee with an optional warranty extension.”
In the cycles for preventive maintenance, the Brabender 5-Star Service also shows flexibility: whether on a quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis — in addition to these customary repetitions, agreements with a two-year interval are available. Kunicke knows the benefits.
“If you have a maintenance contract, you can specifically plan the costs for each budget year,” Kunicke said. “Many customers often have separate budgets for such expenses. The budget for repairs can then be freed up.”
As part of a maintenance contract, customers can get updates for the Brabender application software. The company said this helps avoid incompatibilities and the device’s evaluation possibilities are improved. As an add-on for preventive maintenance, the Brabender service team offers emergency responses and remote maintenance. Both can be added to a maintenance contract for a fee.
The Brabender Calibration Kit is a special service that customers can use to compare the projected and actual values on their devices by themselves.
It consists of reference material, procedural instructions and the measurement result of this material as a reference that was obtained on master machines. They are used only for this material and must always deliver the same results. This means that anywhere in the world, devices that are tested with this reference material correspond with the master device or the original meter.
If this is ever not the case, the customer can discuss possible solutions directly with the customer service. From the measurement results, in turn, the Brabender service employees can draw conclusions about the condition of the device. At the same time they receive a catalog of procedures to return the device to the required condition.
Regular checks with the Calibration Kit are possible for various devices in the food and chemical business areas and are easy to perform.
