Industry / Focus Industry

Manufacturing Industry
Plant Engineering

Line Function / Role

Operating Partner Service
Operating Partner

 Mandate Duration
(in months)

20

 Revenue
(in million €)

180

 Employees

800

Task:

The goal of the mandate was the fundamental restructuring and professionalisation of the service area of an internationally active manufacturer of industrial plants in the food segment.

Initial Situation:

• Service heavily influenced by pure reaction instead of control
• Communication largely unstructured via email
• Lack of transparency and controllability in processes and capacities
• „Service at any cost“ instead of economically and customer-oriented controlled service provision
• Dysfunctional team structures and unclear rules of play

Goal:

• Establishment of a scalable, controllable and economical service business
• Establishment of clear processes, systems and responsibilities
• Improvement of service quality, speed and customer communication

Approach:

1

Fundamental redesign of the service model

Development of a clear target image for a controllable service through system-based work in standardised basic processes.

2

Introduction of a service playbook as a central control instrument

Creation of a comprehensive document with cross-departmental work instructions and checklists for quality, process discipline and communication.

3

Systematic shift of work into IT systems

Transformation of service communication towards structured processing in the CRM/ERP system. Bootstrapping the introduction of a field service management software.

4

Establishment of clear processes along the entire service supply chain

Definition and implementation of binding workflows in the interplay of service, logistics, spare parts management, controlling and planning.

Further relevant implementation measures/steps:

• Introduction of synchronised coordination and control mechanisms.
• Elimination of dysfunctional behaviour patterns and establishment of a functional team culture with clear rules. Establishment of a second management level and a responsible person for the central service tools.
• Process and workflow design: End-to-end definition of service processes, introduction of clear handover points along the service chain and avoidance of media breaks and information losses.
• Capacity and deployment planning: Reassessment and structuring of deployment planning and establishment of a significantly extended planning horizon.

• Key account & crisis management: Active management of critical customers, stabilisation of customer relationships through clear communication and reliable service delivery.

• Intensive communication and awareness-raising with other business areas and the existing customer base. Restructuring of key account reporting into a meaningful and results-oriented management system.
• Further development of the leadership culture towards metrics-oriented decision management.

Results (Output):

1. Speed and service quality: Reduction of average response times by ~50% and disruption times by ~70%.
2. Planning and controllability: Increase of the planning horizon for service technicians from 1 day to >10 days.
3. Recurring revenues through an increase in the maintenance rate from ~50% to ~90% in the series business.
4. Revenue increase in service over the last 12 months by +40% and an EBITDA improvement of +50%.
5. Processes and system usage: Significant shift of work away from emails towards structured ERP usage.
6. Organisation and collaboration: Clear, lived workflows along the entire service supply chain and functioning coordination mechanisms instead of ad-hoc communication.

Impact (Outcome):

• Transformation from reactive chaos to controllable system. Continuous, system-supported service processes with clear controllability, so that management can actively steer instead of having to catch up.
• Massive improvement in speed and reliability. Significantly faster and more reliable service delivery in terms of customer satisfaction, repurchase rate and reputation of the service organisation.
• Monetisation through structure instead of chance. Establishment of the service as an independent profit centre with a professional management structure and a profitable business model. 
• Building a scalable service business through standardised, repeatable processes and clear system logic. A stable foundation for growth, internationalisation and margin enhancement.
• Professionalisation of the customer relationship through clear, professional and structured customer interaction.
• Sustainable anchoring of organisational changes through the service playbook: reproducible quality, verifiable processes and scalable collaboration.