The TRUMPF Group, a leading manufacturer of sheet metal machinery, laser technology and medical appliances, has outsourced its application support services in China to IMG, the Consulting Services of the S&T Group. Language and time differences are now no longer an issue – much to the satisfaction of the users.
“As an internationally active business, we have to ensure that support for our IT applications is available around the clock,” states Dr. Simone Rehm, CIO Trumpf. Staff at manufacturing plants and in larger sales offices must be able to obtain help 24 hours a day in the event that problems arise with their applications. Thus, the support team for TRUMPF users in China und Taiwan has been made up of IMG staff since the beginning of spring, 2007. While Trumpf could establish its own support team in the USA due to the high number of users there, the situation was completely different in East Asia, as the TRUMPF production plants and sales offices are considerably smaller in that region. Rehm comments: “The market is growing very strongly indeed and there are already three locations where SAP is used, but it does not make economic sense to establish our own service team in order to support about 20 users.” A minimum of three to four support staff would be required since one person would not be enough to provide coverage for sick leave and holidays, nor would there be an adequately comprehensive range of knowledge to cover a large number of SAP modules.
Flexible Partner
At IMG, a team of four service staff has been assigned to TRUMPF so that enquiries are always handled by the same points of contact. A service hotline has been set up via which users can reach the service staff directly. Approximately 40 requests per month are processed by the team. For this, the IMG team as a whole provides the complete set of skills required in order to provide consulting and services for an extensive SAP installation. In effect, the team represents a virtual member of staff that has detailed knowledge about all the modules. The support team members speak Chinese with the users and English with the staff at the TRUMPF Competence Center in Ditzingen, Germany. “IMG is extremely flexible. Starting with only a handful of users was not an issue at all. And further possible growth in the region, for example in Japan, can easily be handled by the system house,” adds Rehm.
Process Outtasking
“Our consultants provide support to the TRUMPF staff for everyday system operation issues: user errors, end user support and consulting are all part of our portfolio of services,” explains Christian Rosner, CEO S&T. In order to maintain a high level of service quality, telephone conferences are held once a week. Video conferences also support the continuous exchange of information. “We have realized a genuine outtasking of processes and are very satisfied with the division of labor and with the performance of IMG,” summarizes Simone Rehm. “This allows us to concentrate fully on what we do best – which is not necessarily speaking Chinese. IMG is fulfilling a pure service contract for us, but it is reassuring to know that this is backed up by comprehensive SAP and consulting expertise, which is very beneficial for us.”
About TRUMPF
TRUMPF GmbH & Co. KG is a hi-tech business that specializes in manufacturing and medical technology. Three business units make up the TRUMPF Group, which is based in Ditzingen, Germany. These are the machine tools/power tools, laser technology/electronics and medical technology units. The group employs over 8,000 staff at 30 locations around the world. In the 2007/2008 business year, the company achieved double digit growth for the fourth successive year, with turnover increasing by 11 percent to 2.14 billion euros and incoming orders increasing by 5.6 percent to 2.15 million euros. The company’s pre-tax return was 301 million euros.
“As an internationally active business, we have to ensure that support for our IT applications is available around the clock,” states Dr. Simone Rehm, CIO Trumpf. Staff at manufacturing plants and in larger sales offices must be able to obtain help 24 hours a day in the event that problems arise with their applications. Thus, the support team for TRUMPF users in China und Taiwan has been made up of IMG staff since the beginning of spring, 2007. While Trumpf could establish its own support team in the USA due to the high number of users there, the situation was completely different in East Asia, as the TRUMPF production plants and sales offices are considerably smaller in that region. Rehm comments: “The market is growing very strongly indeed and there are already three locations where SAP is used, but it does not make economic sense to establish our own service team in order to support about 20 users.” A minimum of three to four support staff would be required since one person would not be enough to provide coverage for sick leave and holidays, nor would there be an adequately comprehensive range of knowledge to cover a large number of SAP modules.
Flexible Partner
At IMG, a team of four service staff has been assigned to TRUMPF so that enquiries are always handled by the same points of contact. A service hotline has been set up via which users can reach the service staff directly. Approximately 40 requests per month are processed by the team. For this, the IMG team as a whole provides the complete set of skills required in order to provide consulting and services for an extensive SAP installation. In effect, the team represents a virtual member of staff that has detailed knowledge about all the modules. The support team members speak Chinese with the users and English with the staff at the TRUMPF Competence Center in Ditzingen, Germany. “IMG is extremely flexible. Starting with only a handful of users was not an issue at all. And further possible growth in the region, for example in Japan, can easily be handled by the system house,” adds Rehm.
Process Outtasking
“Our consultants provide support to the TRUMPF staff for everyday system operation issues: user errors, end user support and consulting are all part of our portfolio of services,” explains Christian Rosner, CEO S&T. In order to maintain a high level of service quality, telephone conferences are held once a week. Video conferences also support the continuous exchange of information. “We have realized a genuine outtasking of processes and are very satisfied with the division of labor and with the performance of IMG,” summarizes Simone Rehm. “This allows us to concentrate fully on what we do best – which is not necessarily speaking Chinese. IMG is fulfilling a pure service contract for us, but it is reassuring to know that this is backed up by comprehensive SAP and consulting expertise, which is very beneficial for us.”
About TRUMPF
TRUMPF GmbH & Co. KG is a hi-tech business that specializes in manufacturing and medical technology. Three business units make up the TRUMPF Group, which is based in Ditzingen, Germany. These are the machine tools/power tools, laser technology/electronics and medical technology units. The group employs over 8,000 staff at 30 locations around the world. In the 2007/2008 business year, the company achieved double digit growth for the fourth successive year, with turnover increasing by 11 percent to 2.14 billion euros and incoming orders increasing by 5.6 percent to 2.15 million euros. The company’s pre-tax return was 301 million euros.
