STUDER Customer Care: Operating worldwide

In over 50 countries. In 15 languages. Over 200 service technicians. STUDER's service technicians support customers worldwide. And they are closer to their customers than almost anyone else. Why? Because they speak the customers' language, know the STUDER machines and work with passion and enormous personal commitment.

Hugo Forte, Regional Service Manager responsible for Portugal and Switzerland, supports a customer on the Helpline, who has noticed loud noises coming from the axis on his machines. The problem is quickly identified, the spare parts ordered and the service technician deployed. Hugo Forte did his apprenticeship as a polymechanic at STUDER. He has now been working at Fritz Studer AG for over 13 years. His longstanding experience helps him in his role as Regional Service Manager. He is the customers' initial contact in his area of responsibility and he knows their needs: Quick response times and a high availability of technicians and parts.

Friday morning, 7.30 am – production hall at Leica Geosystems AG. Hanspeter Munter, STUDER service technician, is removing the spindle on the S145cnc, which has reached its limits after a running time of around 20 years and over 50,000 hours of operation. He inserts the new spindle and adjusts it accurately with the special tool. A spindle with this operating time can lead to problems in dimensional stability, but also to vibrations and noises, as in the case of this S145cnc. "Once all the cover plates are removed and the machine is open, in consultation with the customer I also replace the belt of the B-axis and then realign the turret", explains Hanspeter Munter, who has been working for STUDER for 35 years. He loves carrying out demanding electrical work on the machines. He was able to complete the work for Leica Geosystems AG quickly and routinely. "I approach every assignment with the highest commitment. It is important for our customers that we are quickly on site, have the right spare parts available and the machine is running perfectly again as soon as possible", Munter knows from experience. A service which STUDER can offer. "The quick, global availability of competent service technicians is one of the main reasons why many customers choose a STUDER machine time and again", says Munter. As in the case of Leica Geosystems AG: "We have been working side by side with STUDER for more than 20 years. We now have several STUDER machines in our fleet of machines". In answer to the question of what makes STUDER particularly attractive, Stefan Thurnherr, Head of Grinding Technology, replies: "In addition to high-precision machines that we can we rely on, we also benefit from quick availability of service technicians on site and a high availability of spare parts. Over the past few decades we have always been able to count on STUDER to fix a machine breakdown promptly".

Leica Geosystems AG

Leica Geosystems AG manufactures precision measuring instruments for construction surveying, geodesics, aerial photography and photogrammetry. Its Polymeca Business Unit operates as a mechanical production partner for the manufacture of various precision-mechanical components and assemblies, as well as surface technology. It also has its own Industrial Services center, which is responsible for servicing and maintaining all machines. "With the support of the STUDER Helpline, the experts at Polymeca can often maintain their machines themselves. They have very good people in the maintenance department", says Hanspeter Munter. These specialists have also undergone training in the STUDER Service Academy.

STUDER Service Academy

In the Service Academy full-time instructors train STUDER service technicians and provide advanced training. Maintenance courses for customers and further training for foreign representatives are also held in the Academy. All new employees and more than 100 skilled personnel participate in training and development courses every year. The Academy offers around 90 modules in total. "This is unique in our industry", Gideon Megert, Service Academy Director, is convinced. 

Polymeca's maintenance experts have been trained at the Service Academy. "This service is worth its weight in gold for us, because it means we can prevent possible machine downtimes and reduce them to an absolute minimum, as well as carrying out certain repairs ourselves", explains Stefan Thurnherr. If they get stuck, Polymeca is happy to be able to call on the service technicians at Fritz Studer AG.

STUDER speaks the customers' language

The STUDER Customer Care Organisation plays a big part in ensuring that the grinding machines also have the longest operating times. This is made possible by 200 service technicians in over 50 countries worldwide, who carry out well over 15,000 service visits per year. The Helpline is operated in around 15 languages. "We speak our customers' language – this is very important to us", promises Severin Steffen, Head of Helpline & Field Service at STUDER. All STUDER service technicians benefit from professional development – at a global level. This can be demonstrated by the example of a Chinese customer from the automotive industry. In November 2016 this customer recorded the highest order intake in its history. The more than fifteen STUDER cylindrical grinding machines were in continuous use. One afternoon a software problem occurred during set-up, which the customer could not resolve itself. Just a few hours later the Customer Care department at UNITED GRINDING China established a crisis unit via WeChat, in which the STUDER Regional Service Manager, Qu Hao, also took part. That evening a diagnosis was carried out via remote access and at eleven o'clock in the evening a service technician was already there in the production hall. Along with the operator, they solved the software problem together during the night. At seven o'clock in the morning the S22 was functioning perfectly again. "The service team responded incredibly quickly. They did this in a direct and committed manner, always acting in the customer's interest. The team understood us and also recognized our time constraints", says the customer's Senior Maintenance Manager.

Precise machine – high availability – successful customer

The Chinese customer sums it up like this: "A STUDER machine has advanced technology and high precision. At the same time Customer Care regularly visits customers, notes the problems that we face and provides feedback within the promised time. The qualified and experienced technicians provide us with quick and straightforward support and solve the problem within a short time". The high machine availability is a huge advantage for customers. Retrofittable, innovative products, such as UNITED GRINDING Digital Solutions^TM, enable machine failures to be analyzed and remedied via the Internet.