Elried marking systems
Service innovation for printing systems
Use case: Service
Type of Assets: Electronics & IT-Assets
About the company: Elried marking systems is a family business founded in 1959 by Elisabeth Riedmaier and based in Oberhaching near Munich. It is one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of industrial marking and coding solutions. Elried's systems are used along the entire industrial value chain, from the marking of individual products to product packaging and large-format export packaging.
The challenge
Inefficient service processes
Melina Riedmaier, Project Manager, who has held various positions at the company since 2012, explains: "Service orientation, product development and the digitalization of our processes have always been our main focus. This makes us a reliable partner for our customers who use our products worldwide."
"Ensuring seamless production for our customers is also of the utmost importance to us, importance," emphasizes Melina Riedmaier. Product coding and marking plays a crucial role for all Elried customers: in the food industry, it is essential that no goods leave the factory without a best-before date. In the high-tech industry, codes are essential to protect against product piracy. And in the automotive industry, traceability in the event of recalls is unthinkable without clear marking.
Melina Riedmaier adds: "Our aim was to develop a comprehensive service concept that offers our customers maximum reliability and security." This concept is a key differentiator compared to the competition and comprises four stages:
1. Online support and remote maintenance for minor errors and configuration problems
2. A network of service technicians for fast on-site service
3. Returns, repairs and loan machines if required
4. An upgrade service for replacing spare parts and accessories
A special feature of Elried's service: if a printing or marking system breaks down, customers can send the defective device to Elried for repair and receive loaner devices if required. This required the implementation of a flawless RMA process (Return Merchandise / Material Authorization), which ensures that all systems are structured and digitally recorded and that nothing falls off the table. However, turning the concept into reality proved to be difficult.
Service concepts can
not be mapped in an ERP
"In the past, we worked with our ERP system, which we actually managed quite well. However, we quickly realized that it was reaching its limits when we wanted to reliably map many different service cases. An ERP is simply not made for that," says Riedmaier.
In addition, dealing with the many different systems and Word files was a real time waster. Whether it was a service or workshop report, product complaint or RMA accompanying document - all forms were mainly created in Word, saved locally or printed out on paper. This led to the usual problems of paperwork: documents ended up in filing cabinets never to be seen again, accompanying documents were lost or reports were filled out incorrectly.
Ultimately, the processes were too cumbersome for employees and not transparent enough for customers. Melina Riedmaier explains: "With the RMA process in particular, we wanted our customers to know where the returned items were located, that the reasons for returns were documented cleanly, centrally and digitally and that we could regularly evaluate the number, frequency and reasons for returns in order to optimize our processes."
Thanks to the remberg Asset Platform, we can now fully and digitally manage our printing and labeling systems in once place. This enables us to set up a structured inquiry management system and increase the transparency of our service processes for our customers.Melina Riedmaier Head of Strategy Elried marking systems
The decision
All service processes
in one solution
After a comprehensive evaluation of various options, Elried decided on the remberg Asset Platform. A decisive factor in this choice was the ability to map all service processes with just one software. To ensure the implementation of remberg Asset Platform was a guaranteed success, Elried received dedicated support from the remberg Customer Success Team, which enabled a smooth transition and efficient integration of the new solution.
Since then, Elried employees have been using the remberg Asset Platform to its full extent on a daily basis: Starting with the 360° overview and inventory of all Elried products in one solution, the digitization of all paper-based documents and forms, central request management, the collaborative management of work and repair orders, the scheduling of all service technicians and the entire returns management.
The gained remberg Asset Platform advantages
The result
Efficiency, reliability and transparency
With the integration of the new software, Elried has experienced a major turning point in its service organization. Thanks to the remberg Asset Platform, we can now fully and digitally manage our printing and labeling systems in once place. This enables us to set up a structured inquiry management system and increase the transparency of our service processes for our customers." explains Riedmaier.
These innovations not only increase operational efficiency, but also bring noticeable improvements to all processes. In addition, the remberg Asset Platform facilitates collaboration with Elried's partners via the in-house service portal, where customers can create inquiries or download safety data sheets directly."It's now simple, clear and fast," says Melina Riedmaier, pleased with the progress.
The outlook and the vision
The successful digitalization of all service processes with the remberg Asset Platform marks a decisive step into the future."Elried's focus is on long-term and stable customer relationships. We are therefore continuously improving our service efficiency and offering our customers an even better experience with the remberg Asset Platform," says Melina Riedmaier.
