Digitalization Meets Customer Services

One Step Ahead for Permanent Availability

With the growth in e-commerce, the ability to obtain products from anywhere and anytime is increasingly becoming an everyday norm. Customers’ expectations are on the rise, and as a result, retailers must be prepared not only for daily and seasonal business but also for sudden, unforeseeable fluctuations in demand. The goal of ensuring continuous and flexible supply requires just the right processes along with logistics that always work.

Think Tomorrow. - At SSI SCHAEFER we offer tailor-made services designed to ensure maximum system availability. We support our customers with various solutions and prepare them ideally for the requirements of tomorrow. This includes Preventive Services, which offer high system protection with proactive, digital maintenance measures. In addition, Reactive Services are available for quick and reliable 24/7 problem-solving and optimized Life Cycle Management for greater system efficiency.

Preventive Services for Maximum System Availability

Our Preventive Services allow us to fully utilize the potential of digitalization. This is because our customer service goes far beyond the quick delivery of spare parts and short response times. Reactive Service, where components are only replaced or repaired if there is a need to do so, is shifting more to preventive service. Preventive maintenance measures, such as the replacement of wear parts, depending on the run time or switching cycles, offer high system protection and keep system downtimes at a minimum.

As such, along the lines of a Maintenance 4.0 concept, we use our SSI SCHAEFER Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) to digitally plan, control and implement maintenance measures. The core elements include CMMS Web and the CMMS app. The system is linked to the real world using a 1D or QR barcodes applied to each system component and smart phones for service technicians on-site. Based on the available data, the maintenance manager plans preventive measures in CMMS Web. After synchronizing with the CMMS app, the service technicians can use their smart phones or tablets to process the planned activities on-site, document them and synchronize the system with the data obtained.

The extensive volume of data provides a good basis for further analyses and evaluations, which are needed to plan specific maintenance intervals and future preventive activities and to continuously optimizing maintenance processes. Potential malfunctions can be prevented with early and proactive actions. This makes it possible to fully realize potential and incrementally reduce costs. Even better proactive maintenance intervals and activities allow a sustainable maintenance strategy to be implemented, offering maximum transparency and flexibility with the ability to optimally respond to changing conditions.

Responding in Real Time with Augmented Support

Our custom solution packages for proactive maintenance are only one aspect, however. Because sometimes there is a need to respond and intervene in short notice. SSI SCHAEFER is by our customer’s side with 24/7 support. In addition to on-site service, we also offer SSI Augmented Support. This form of remote maintenance is a flexible solution module, which, even in times of travel warnings due to a pandemic or natural disaster, can play a significant role in the success of our customers.

As a real-time mobile video communication system, SSI Augmented Support meets all requirements for efficient troubleshooting and repairs. An on-site technician activates the SSI Augmented Support, which then quickly establishes a connection to our service center. The event is transferred without delay, so that troubleshooting can begin immediately with the aid of voice and video assistance.

In this way we can provide our customers with multimedia support and comprehensive assistance to correct errors at short notice. The user-friendly application and direct communication in real time prevent potential misunderstandings and longer response times as a result of time delays. This enables more detailed troubleshooting, interactive work processes and high system availability due to minimal downtimes. Malfunctions can be fixed easier, sooner, and with more flexibility, which saves time and costs.

Increasing System Efficiency with Systematic Modernization

During the construction and equipping phases of any logistics building, SSI SCHAEFER takes a proactive role in planning the layout with our customers. “Grow as you go!” is the motto we apply, offering solutions that scale with the requirements, thus significantly extending the service life of the system. By planning possible automation or expansions from the beginning, we ensure the necessary scalability and flexibility of the system. The focus is always on the best possible system and energy efficiency.

With our services, we update both our own systems and third-party systems. Depending on the initial situation, the mechanics, electrical technology or controls can be overhauled, and systems are quickly and safely upgraded by replacing components, expansions, or IT modernizations. These updates can provide a productivity increase of up to 30%.

Upgrades are done quickly and cost-optimized during ongoing operation. Two of many successful examples are projects for our customers FrieslandCampina and Office Depot.

SSI SCHAEFER extended and modernized the intralogistics system of international dairy company FrieslandCampina in Aalter, Belgium, during ongoing operation. The system extension had already been included in the layout of the existing system, which SSI SCHAEFER realized in 2005 as the general intralogistics contractor. New production and packing lines as well as continuously growing demand required higher storage and performance capacities. All in all, the existing high-bay warehouse was extended, connected to the conveying system, integrated into IT and the existing systems were upgraded to cutting edge technology. The result are optimized processes, increased storage capacity and considerable cost savings.

In only five weeks, our Customer Service & Support (CSS) team also completed a retrofit project for Office Depot: In the existing distribution center in Großostheim, Germany, the performance was adapted to the current challenges of the company. In cooperation with Office Depot, we first elaborated an optimum material flow concept, extended the conveying system correspondingly and installed two new picking loops with dynamic scales. The picking area was extended by a Pick by Light system. The new components and material flows were ultimately integrated into the WAMAS® logistics software.

Elie Zita, SVP Customer Services & Head of Business Unit Customer Services at SSI SCHAEFER