The quality of technical service is often worth more than the machine price. A packaging machine stopped for failure in peak season can cost more than the entire machine in lost revenue.
Key service parameters: SLA and response times
The SLA defines the supplier's guaranteed response times. Key parameters: telephone or remote response time (should be under 2 hours on working days), on-site technician arrival time (under 8 hours for emergencies), mean time to repair (MTTR).
- Phone/remote response: under 2 hours on working days
- On-site technician arrival: under 8 hours for critical failures
- MTTR: under 24 hours for standard failures
- Geographic coverage: own technicians or authorised service network?
- Hours covered: office hours only or also weekend on-call?
Spare parts: the difference between 2-hour and 2-week downtime
Critical components are few but expensive. The vacuum pump (800-4,000 euros), sealing bars and chamber gaskets must be available in stock with certain delivery times. A supplier ordering from abroad has 3-6 week lead times: unacceptable in production.
- Vacuum pump: most critical component, requires 1-3 days for replacement
- Sealing bars: wear every 200,000-500,000 cycles, must be in stock
- Chamber gaskets: immediate replacement when needed
- Electronic boards: long lead times if not in stock (4-12 weeks)
- Ask: critical components in stock with quantities and prices
Maintenance contracts: what they include and what they do not
A good contract includes: scheduled annual visits (at least every 6 months), unlimited remote assistance, wear parts included in the fee, labour for scheduled visits included. Extraordinary spare parts (pump, boards) are typically billed separately.
- Typically included: scheduled visits, remote assistance, wear parts
- Typically excluded: extraordinary spare parts, emergency night call-outs
- Contract cost: 2-5% of machine value/year
- Contract ROI: 1 avoided stoppage pays for the annual contract
- Ask: written SLA with penalties for non-compliance
Want to know our service SLAs?
EMA Pack guarantees under 2 hour response and territory technicians with critical spare parts always in stock. Request EMA Care contract details.
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