Equipment Support in a Standardized World
An article by Dave Morris
Vice President, Service Management Group
February 10, 2006
For years everyone in the Food Equipment Industry has been concerned about customer support, the training required to deliver this support and the associated costs.
For manufacturers, the only thing worse than an equipment failure, is a service failure. Therefore, many manufacturers struggle with a host of questions surrounding technical training. Questions like:
- How can I reach the most technicians?
- How can I afford to train technicians?
- What is the return on investment for providing that training?
- Is there a standard in our industry I can work with?
In fact, in September of 2003, NAFEM (North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers) organized a liaison committee with CFESA (Commercial Food Equipment Service Association) to solve this problem. In May of the same year, fifty-two manufacturers participated in a survey regarding their online training activities. Some highlight results are:
- 5% were fully implemented with online training
- 16% were preparing to implement online training
- 48% did not have factory training available to the service technicians they work with
- 65% did not have factory training available to the sub-agents who work on their equipment
The research indicates that thousands of technicians are not receiving the equipment specific training they need to do a better job for customers and manufacturers alike.
“On line training provides flexibility to meet the busy schedules of technicians and business owners. One can pick the time and place that is convenient to get the latest technical information on foodservice equipment. As a NAFEM Manufacturer it also provides a vehicle to reach every technician and helps us maintain greater consistency with our training message.”
Eddie Garmon
Director, Total Water Management
Everpure, LLC
Manufacturers aren't the only ones struggling with the high cost of service. Service Agents have the same problem. They cannot afford to pull someone off the road and send them to factory training because of the expense and the loss of revenue. Only the largest of Service Companies can afford to send one or two technicians to factory training using a Train the Trainer approach. Even after the training is disseminated to the rest of the technicians it often becomes diluted. Many companies are responsible for training the smaller ‘Sub-Agent’ companies that do work for them in outlying areas. At the same time Service Agents struggle to juggle the demands of customer support while simultaneously keeping abreast of changing technologies as well as training new and veteran employees. Then there is always the problem all of us have: remembering what we have learned.
“Like the Physicians Desk Reference [PDR] in the medical arena the EM WEB/TCE portal should become the ‘go to location’ for food service industry knowledge and skill enhancement. Going to this central portal approach is the next step within our industry that shows our dedication to professionalism and customer care.”
Patrick Spillane
President, Spillane Consulting Group
Chain Maintenance Departments have similar needs and ask themselves how and where do we get the content? Why are we out of the factory training loop for our in-house staff? Like Service Agents, Chain Maintenance Departments seek information and training so they can perform their role in the support equation, but may wonder where they fit on the manufacturer's priority list.
“On-line training will be a great resource to have, especially when it's at the tip of your fingers. With technology always changing and new manufacturer products it becomes difficult to keep up, therefore, having a resourceful tool like an on-line training program will be the key to stay ahead of the game.”
Luis Viscarra
Facility Services Project Manager,
Jack in the Box Inc.
As an industry, we all have similar concerns. Everyone knows that a trained technician is able to diagnose and repair equipment faster than an untrained counterpart. We know repairs completed by trained technicians typically result in equipment being returned to service much faster which enhances customer satisfaction, reduces service costs and increases productivity.
“Let's face it - our goal is to as quickly and efficiently as possible isolate the cause of the problem and correct it. This type of electronic training could allow for more productive training techniques for all levels of our technicians and staff. I would like to see a standard electronic training format for any manufacturer to follow.
This could be a staged equipment set-up, component identification and location, sequence of operation, preventive maintenance procedures, and a list of common failures and corrective action.”
John Sappo
Director of Operations,
Daubers Inc. CFESA Certified Company
Manufacturers continually measure where to apply and focus their training resources to get the highest return on their investment and please the most customers. Manufacturers often follow a common formula: build the best equipment, watch your expenses, market to your customers aggressively and focus on providing the customers a terrific purchase experience. If we do all of this we will achieve success and profitability! Sounds easy. Seems easy. So why do thousands of technicians lack the equipment specific knowledge that benefits everyone involved?
TECHNOLOGY
Through the years some manufacturers have offered training; some at their facilities or in some cases ‘out in the field’ because that was the only method of getting it done at the time. Times have changed and while this training receives high marks for imparting knowledge, it is not the most efficient or affordable way to meet all the demands of the industry in today's world.
“Technical training has always been a challenge. We have been using the same training patterns for decades hoping for different results. Leveraging technology is a reasonable solution to increase the population of trained technicians while delivering training to remote areas previously unreachable. I see this as a supplement to in-person training rather than an excuse from field training. With web based training tools we can reach all of the sub agents, and independent technicians who were unable to attend the live event. The total audience reached is larger than ever before. Overall technical understanding and skill levels will increase. We finally found a way to reach the technician in every remote location. The information can be viewed, reviewed, and verified through testing. I know of no other method to reach more technicians at this time.”
Ken Guzel
Director-Technical Services,
Prince Castle, Inc.
As the result of this investigative work, The NAFEM / CFESA Liaison Committee has developed the Technical Center of Excellence (TCE) that uses simple technology to met this industry need. The committee, made up of Manufacturers, Service Companies, Chain Accounts, and Software Developers identified needs, financial benefits, available technologies, questions and concerns. Once the research was complete, the team partnered with EMWeb which is widely accepted as the industry's central site and is the place to find technical and parts related data on the majority of all foodservice equipment.
“Bunn-O-Matic has been using on-line training for over a year resulting in significant benefit to our stakeholders. Our training travel costs are down. Service partner travel costs and time away from the job have been reduced. We have touched many more students than we could have through traditional training resulting in greater transfer of knowledge. We have also been able to react quickly to our business environment. When a large installation project came along we were able to customize installation and set up training based on the customer's requirements. This helped ensure our installers were ready when they arrived on site. On-line training will continue to be an important part of our training strategy. I expect it to grow in popularity with all our stakeholders as their on-line experience grows.”
Bob Vincent
Field Support Manager,
Bunn-O-Matic Corporation
The combination of TCE and EMWeb provide an even more powerful and readily available application where service companies of all sizes can have instant access to equipment specific technical data. With an existing registration base of more that 150,000 User Logins, EMWeb gives TCE instant credibility and rapid deployment to the service world at large. Besides the hundreds of thousands of parts drawings, wiring diagrams, installation and operational manuals, EMWeb will now provide technicians with step by step tutorials on how to fix the equipment they are asked to work on. Technicians can be tested and reminded of areas to reinforce their learning. They can review materials at any time and from virtually any place. Technicians can prepare for service calls or even for upcoming live training events they will attend. Most importantly, technicians can go back and refresh their skills on a periodic basis.
By providing equipment specific training to the majority of the technician population versus the minority who receive it today will produce significant financial savings for ALL members of the foodservice community.
“Manufacturers will have less warranty expense, lower factory support cost, and repeat business from happier customers. Customers will have lower post warranty expense and more revenue generating uptime. Finally, Service Agents will have more repeat business, a better reputation, and more billable calls fixed on the first trip. Everybody wins!”
Ross Arroyo
President
Service Management Group
While EMWeb has been running in full force for nearly nine years, the TCE training addition is not far behind. If you would like to be involved with or receive more information on TCE, EMWeb or other emerging technologies. Contact Dave Morris at Dave.Morris@servicemg.com for more information.
Author's Bio: Dave Morris is Vice President of Service Management Group.
Company Bio: Service Management Group is a privately held Company. Service Management Group provides technology solutions for the Foodservice Industry. SMG is the industry's category leader in electronic warranty processing, web development, and parts / service information support.
|
