ETG SETS A NEW STANDARD IN ENGINEER TO MACHINE RATIO
August 2006
As a result of continuous investment in its service and support team, the Engineering Technology Group believes that it now has the best ratio of engineers to machines of any major machine tool company in the UK. Its recently appointed Engineering Manager, Ian Howlett, says that the Group has one engineer for every 50 machines in the market, compared to the industry norm of one engineer for every 150 machines.
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“Since the
creation of Turning Technologies in 2004 as the sole UK distributor
of Nakamura-Tome turning centres, and the creation of The
Engineering Technology Group last year when Turning Technologies and
Chiron came together with Hyfore and Hyformation we have invested
heavily in engineering support. As a relatively new company we have
to demonstrate to the market that we are committed to a level of
support that matches the reputation of our machine tools,” says Ian. “The companies that invest in Chiron and Nakamura machines are operating high-intensity production environments. They want maximum payback and tend to operate them around the clock, so our organisation has to have the capacity to support them on a 24/7/365 basis.” |
Ian was appointed to his current post after nine years with Chiron, and currently heads a team that includes fourteen field-based service engineers and three people working full-time in service management dedicated to supporting Nakamura & Chiron machines. In all, service personnel represent some 60% of The Engineering Technology Group’s workforce. All of the service engineers are factory trained, and return for further training at least once a year to the machine tool manufacturers.
The customer helpline offers a same-day service for production-critical spares and is linked to the field service team using a 3-G communications system. Wherever they are in the field, a service engineer will be able to speak to the customer to offer first-line assistance within an hour of the customer’s call. If a service visit is required an engineer will be at the customer’s site by 8.30 the next morning at the very latest.
As well as offering speed of response on spares and service, the Group is heavily focused on service contracts and preventative maintenance.
“We want to develop long-term partnerships to help our customers with their production goals,” says Ian. “Preventative maintenance and service contracts form a big part of what we do. A typical service visit will include advanced diagnostics checks, the replacement of any items that may be at risk before the next service visit and performance checks – using various test bars and a spindle pulling force meter – so that we know that the machine is up to scratch and ready to return to intensive production.
“We have over 100 service partnerships across our Chiron and Nakamura customers with the level of support tailored to exactly what the customer wants. This might range from one service a year and a discount on parts and labour up to full 24-hour cover.”
Turning Technologies is a member of the Engineering Technology Group.
For more
information please contact:
Polly Taylor
Turning Technologies
Tel: 01926 818 418
E :ptaylor@turning.biz
www.turning.biz
www.chironuk.co.uk
www.engtechgroup.com
Andy Sandford
Sticklebacks Communications Ltd
Tel: 01737 270 648
Mob: 07971 436 644
E :
Andy@sticklebacks.com
www.sticklebacks.com
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