Maintenance agreement ensures the operation and efficiency

Endress+Hauser supports its customers through commissioning and maintenance services provided under the maintenance agreement. The maintenance agreement enables anticipating slowly developing challenges, tackling unexpected problems and ensuring the operability of critical measurements.

“The maintenance agreement pays itself off: it ensures that the functionality and cost efficiency of the device stay optimal. This say, the process works as intended – efficiently, safely and ecologically,” says Endress+Hauser’s Service Engineer Kristian Taskila. Taskila works with maintenance as part of a team that accounts for about 15% of the Finnish personnel.

After graduating as an electrician, Taskila has, in his own words, been married to automation – first in the food industry, then with analyzers and finally at Endress+Hauser since 2021.

“You could definitely say I’ve found my calling. The things that motivate me most are helping customers and finding solutions together.”

Taskila spends most of his work week on customer visits for troubleshooting, assisting with commissioning and training the customer’s maintenance staff. He also takes part in Endress+Hauser’s internal development projects and offers his expertise to colleagues. The work is highly mobile.

“The car I use to travel to the customers is my most important co-worker. For equipment training, I also fly abroad to Endress+Hauser factories – this ensures that we have the latest information available here in Finland,” Taskila explains.

The maintenance agreement ensures that the equipment is maintained appropriately in a proactive manner and if failures occur. As such, Endress+Hauser maintenance engineers have extensive experience in all fields of industry and their characteristic processes.

“Maintenance agreements are particularly important for analyzers, which need the gentle touch of a maintenance technician. In wastewater treatment, for example, plenty of analyzers are used, and their utilization is steered by various environmental permit conditions. The emission measurements must work optimally for materials released from the plant into the environment,” Taskila says as a reminder.

Every maintenance agreement is tailored to match the customer’s needs and equipment. The basic level covers regular maintenance visits to the customer premises. The additional Smart Support service enables almost real-time help through an SMT tablet and remote connection.

“Customers can also opt for an all-inclusive maintenance agreement, which involves Endress+Hauser taking full responsibility for the operation of the device in question. A maintenance technician can also be booked full-time if there is a lot of critical equipment or the process commissioning requires continuous on-site support. This frees up the customer’s own human resources for other tasks.”

In recent years, Endress+Hauser has invested in its service business to make sure that support is as local and close to the customer. A new maintenance center was opened in Ulvila on 2022 to meet the needs of customers in Western Finland. 

Maintenance agreement activities involve continuous development and customer feedback plays an important role.

“Even silence can be a good sign – it means that everything is going well! That said, we strive for direct cooperation and discussing any challenges and solutions openly and in good faith,” Taskila describes.

Trust is built and demonstrated in the context of every visit. Successes in the field pay dividends through renewed or expanded maintenance agreements.

“To our customers, we are not only an instrument supplier but also a service provider and partner. We are here for our customers, so never hesitate to utilize us and our expertise!”