February 10 2022
After several disruptive years, more warehouses than ever are looking toward automated solutions to remain competitive in today's complex market. As the industry faces higher SKU volumes, faster innovation cycles, and obsolete systems, it’s immensely important to build a resilient and automated warehouse. While the technology behind these systems is imperative, it’s critical to pick a partner that is going to remain by your side long after implementation.
A significant part of building resiliency is aftermarket services.
At Westfalia, our aftermarket services team provides real-time and preventive maintenance, as well as training and implementation support. They are here to deliver the knowledge needed to stay ahead of today’s challenges and provide best practices when transitioning and maintaining these automated systems.
We do this in two major ways:
#1. A Proactive Approach to Maintenance
Traditionally, warehouses undergo quarterly or annual inspections on their equipment, predetermined by a date circled on the calendar. If a maintenance issue comes up in the meantime, it can lead to significant downtime, especially if the service team has to travel across the country to do so. This reactive strategy can be financially burdensome, disruptive to your team, and requires a large amount of work in a very short timeframe.
With 30 years of automated experience in the US under our belt, we take a different aftermarket approach. Our lean, recurring maintenance results in shorter downtime with little to no impact on operations. Instead of scheduling quarterly, yearly, or reactive maintenance, we perform proactive maintenance and inspections so large-scale downtime rarely occurs. This carefully tailored preemptive maintenance strategy comes down to one crucial component: regionalization.
#2. A Regional Presence
Equipment manufacturers and maintenance providers are often located hundreds of miles away from their own customers, resulting in delayed maintenance, added travel costs, and inevitable downtime. A regional aftermarket service team means service technicians are close by and able to provide preventive maintenance regularly or be on site quickly if sudden issues arise.
This regional approach also ensures system availability through:
- On-site spare parts inventory: Spare parts are available for timely maintenance, planned or unplanned.
- 24/7 software remote support: Help is provided in the event of warehouse management and execution software issues, including IT environment challenges with the customer.
- 24/7 controls remote support: Over the phone and real-time system analytics support is provided for resolution of system disruptions.
- 24/7 emergency parts support: Common key parts are provided as quickly as possible if on-site inventory has a gap.
- Emergency on-site support dispatch: Specialists physically come on-site to help solve any issues when the issue cannot be resolved remotely.
Adapting to disruption has never been more important than it is today–and being proactive is crucial to building a resilient warehouse in the year ahead.
Transitioning to automation can be a nerve-racking experience. However, Westfalia is a dedicated partner not only during periods of maintenance, but also throughout the entire equipment lifespan from design, to installation, to training.
Reach out today to learn more about our team and proven expertise