Atlas Copco Compressor Technique South Africa acknowledges the importance of service excellence to ensure that customers always remain first in mind. “A good service ethic is vital as it relates directly to customer value; value for money, as opposed to simply low cost, is the key to business sustainability,” says Wayne Jacobs – Business Line Manager Compressor Technique Service Division. “A customer is making a substantial investment when purchasing a compressor and incorrect fitment of a part or use of the wrong replacement part can result in premature failure and resultant downtime and replacement costs,” warns Jacobs. Underlining the importance of using only skilled technicians, Jacobs explains that a good service ethic therefore encompasses highly trained technicians that use the right tools to do the correct maintenance and fit the right parts.

Jacobs also points out that because downtime is extremely costly for customers, immediate response to a customer’s service requirement and parts availability are also fundamental to a good service ethic. Atlas Copco Compressor Technique’s four service branches in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, supported by ten authorised distributors, take care of customers’ requirements across the country. “Our service branches boast a 27-strong technician team with a significant back office support structure that can maintain and service any Atlas Copco product. Irrespective of location, we can be on our customer’s doorstep very quickly.”

Turning to stock holding and parts availability, Jacobs says that the current local parts stock holding is in excess of 15 million Rand. “Parts not stocked locally will be outsourced from our main warehouse in Belgium, with a three times a week delivery to South Africa. Jacobs says that sustainable service excellence comes with numerous challenges. “While stock holding tops the list, we also face a serious shortage of skilled artisans. Furthermore, it is important that we have to get the balance right between cost and customer value.” “Our future plans address these challenges with sustainable solutions to ensure our customers’ satisfaction on reliable support and service. We have already effectively adopted a number of successful projects which include more efficient planning and administration tools and systems. Recently we converted to a new stock management and replenishment system which will further improve stock availability in the near future. And we plan to increase local part stock holding to further improve parts availability.”

Moving on to training, Jacobs says that training is as important as service. “Training keeps our people at the forefront when it comes to our OEM products – no one knows more about our product than we do, and this equates to good value support and peace of mind. To address the skills shortage, we have established an in-house apprentice program that offers training of the highest standard to develop qualified and skilled artisans. Training needs are identified during staff appraisals and scheduled via their in house training facility – the Atlas Copco ACademy. Product updates and troubleshooting training sessions are scheduled and held continually throughout the year. In addition to the already mentioned in-house apprentice program, we are also always looking at strategic recruitment.”

“Because we understand that downtime is simply not an option for our customers, we always strive to offer service support tailored to our customers’ customised product requirements,” continues Jacobs. “So even when everything is running optimally, we never sit back; we continue to look for ways to further improve because we believe that there is always room for improvement.” In closing, Jacobs says, “Our biggest potential lies in our own installed base. We need to ensure that, ultimately, every Atlas Copco compressor is serviced directly or indirectly by us. I see the objective for Atlas Copco Compressor Technique Service Division as making every existing and new customer aware that our service department, supported by our network of branches and distributors, take care of the complete Atlas Copco Compressor Technique product portfolio. We want to send a strong message to customers that we are the reference for all Atlas Copco compressor-related equipment,” concludes Jacobs.