Global Engineering Group, Atlas Copco, believes that excellent after-sales service support from a team of experts is essential to ensuring the correct product specification to meet a particular application. “Good service support amplifies the value of a quality product and this forms the fabric of our turnkey product and service solutions which is fundamental to sustainable productivity,” according to Atlas Copco Business Line Manager Construction Tools Division, Neville Stewart.
“The common denominator,” says Stewart, “is training – in-house, customers and dealers. It is far easier to make recommendations when you know a product inside out and imparting product and service knowledge to customers will ensure that they use the product with confidence.”
Regular training intervals are essential to ensuring accurate and updated product knowledge and to remain in step with current customer needs and applications. Two additional drivers for on-going training is the constant development of new products and the appointment of new sales people.
Fully fledged training on Atlas Copco’s product portfolio takes place every two to three years. The training is based on a similar concept to the bi-annual training offered at the company’s Academy in Sweden. The course duration is normally four days with a test on the fifth day; certificates are issued to all successful participants.
The theoretical part of the course takes place at the Atlas Copco Academy and practicals are done in the yard at the company’s Johannesburg headquarters. Stewart explains that the training is led by the respective product managers from the division and the theory and hands-on practicals are equally split with each product line.
According to Stewart, all Atlas Copco dealers that have signed agreements automatically qualify to receive this training and the recent course was attended by 25 people who represented nine dealers, including recently appointed Atlas Copco Construction Technique dealer, Dynamic Air based in the Free State.
Dynamic Air was established in 1999, primarily as a rental house delivering air and power solutions with only some equipment in the mix. “This changed after we became a distributor for Construction Technique in 2013,” explains Raymond Herholdt, Purchasing Manager at Dynamic Air. “We have since spent a lot of time on marketing the equipment and maintenance/repairs thereof. Our customers represent mainly the refinery, sandblasting, refractory and industrial cleaning industries and our biggest customer demand is rented air power, mainly for manufacturing processes. So our dealings with Atlas Copco was inevitable.”
“One of the reasons for staying with Atlas Copco since we first purchased an Atlas Copco compressor in 2000 is the age-old way of thinking – you get what you pay for. Atlas Copco provides world-class support, whether sales or technical and the company’s ability to deliver imported parts/spares within 10 days is key to keeping customers happy. Some of our Atlas Copco compressors have been operating in abusive conditions, accumulating close to 12 000 problem-free hours; we have not sold/written off a single compressor to date. We also rebuild our old units in-house, from the engine up, and can continue doing so, secure in the knowledge that broken parts can always be obtained from Atlas Copco.”
Herholdt says he gained irrefutable value from the training. “Apart from working with the Productivity Solutions, it is absolutely fantastic to have the Product Line Managers doing a presentation, sharing their expertise and being able to answer all our technical questions.”
Herholdt agrees with Stewart that product training is essential for effective sales. “Although I was joined by only one of our newly appointed sales representatives, I believe that, numbers permitting, it is crucial for the entire sales team to attend these courses so as not to miss out on technical aspects and selling points.”
Commenting on the practical training, Herholdt says that you can only learn so much from the Construction Tool Facts Book and brochures. “Actually seeing and operating the units massively improves the sales pitch – there are small benefits not indicated in the literature which makes for a very impressive demonstration. Furthermore, once you see how all the equipment complement each other, it opens your mind to look for opportunities that would otherwise have been missed when, for instance, just driving to and from work every day,” ends Herholdt.
More information from Kathryn Coetzer, Tel:+27(0)11 821 9019 / www.atlascopco.com
