Timo Horn, Head of Operational Service and Service-Sales Extrusion Technology, found himself and his team of 12 employees confronted with increasing complexity. The use of different systems in service for scheduling, ticketing and reporting led to inefficiencies and communication problems.

Excel for resource planning and manual reporting on carbon copy paper proved to be particularly error-prone and time-consuming: "It became increasingly difficult to keep track of all our machines and systems - to know where they were and what condition they were in," he explains. "Dealing with enquiries was very time-consuming and scheduling caused us a lot of headaches, especially in the two divisions of grinding and extrusion technology. We also experienced in many conversations that customers had misplaced important documents such as operating instructions. They were either still in the delivery boxes or locked away with the shift supervisor in the office, where nobody could find them."

One of the first solutions WEBER tried in 2019 was to set up a self-built service portal. However, the effort required for development and maintenance was too daunting, so Timo Horn came to the conclusion: "You don't have to do everything yourself. You just have to find someone who can do it to the desired quality."

The integration of remberg XRM has not only minimized media disruptions and optimized processes, but also improved the overview of the installed base. It ensures better master data quality and helps to identify and successively replace old machines, leading to new sales and long-term customer loyalty.

For Timo Horn, the collaboration with remberg is also valuable because WEBER can contribute to the further development of the XRM system. This is because remberg values incorporating customer feedback into the product. "It's great fun to work with remberg to drive forward new features and versions," says Timo Horn. "That's how the system grows and gets better ... and better."

Overall, the implementation of remberg XRM at Hans WEBER Maschinenfabrik has led to a significant increase in efficiency and an improvement in services. The company is now better positioned to meet the challenges of the digital future and further reinforce its position as a leading provider of machine solutions.

The outlook and the vision

For WEBER, the introduction of the XRM system was an important milestone on the road to the digital future. "Companies are holding back on capital-intensive investments during the recession and want to extend the life cycle of their machines," says David Hahn, Managing Director at remberg. This is why service sales are more stable than new business in uncertain times. In addition, the margins in service and after-sales are two and a half times higher - an enormous potential that lies dormant in the installed base.

According to David Hahn, many machinery and plant manufacturers are trying to introduce innovations such as the Internet of Things (IoT), predictive maintenance or offer business models such as equipment-as-a-service too early and too quickly - and are thus skipping crucial steps. "The level of digitalization in this area is not yet as advanced as is often assumed," he says. "We therefore recommend first creating complete transparency about the installed base and then building on this step by step."