KEB Automation KG is a German component supplier in the field of electric drive and control technology, which has developed into a globally active medium-sized company since 1972.

Always on the move and with the goal in mind: The drive and control technology solutions that are optimally tailored to the customer prove themselves every day in the machines and systems. KEB stands for reliability and trust and is characterized by quality and performance.

In KEB’s repair service process, the customer returns the faulty device to KEB, which is then recognized as a service device and accepted. Before the solution was introduced, a service message was created, the routing slip for it was printed out and stored in a compartment in the orders. The service orders were neither prioritized nor did the employees have an overview of the orders to be processed. In addition, the data from the repair service process was mapped exclusively in SAP, which meant that it was necessary to jump back and forth between service messages and internal quality messages for the QA department. Many individual transactions were used, in which data had to be entered and maintained several times in the process. On the one hand, this caused confusion and unnecessary data entry, but it was also very confusing.

In order to be able to efficiently map the repair service, KEB was looking for a software solution that automates the processes and is fully integrated into the existing SAP landscape.

KEB chose itmX’s service solution because it was able to meet all requirements.

Today, KEB’s internal service creates a service message for each device – from then on, all data is maintained in the itmX service software. With one click, the message is created and automatically posted in the background as goods receipt and returns stock – all with just one transaction. In addition, a planning board was introduced that is used to plan the service order and assign it to an employee. In this way, orders from employees can be prioritized. The distribution to the employees is carried out by means of qualifications and product classifications that have been created and are stored in SAP. After analyzing the faulty device, the data is entered into the service message, the analysis is marked as complete and the process is automatically forwarded to the back office. The office staff marks the process as a fee-based or free-of-charge process and prepares the repair offers in fee-based cases. By maintaining the customer response date, the back office releases the process for repair. As soon as the repair process is completed, the device is shipped back to the customer, for which an SD receipt (e.g. customer order or invoice) is automatically created and the device is returned to the customer. Subsequently, a quality message is automatically created for the QA department from itmX service, so that the data only needs to be maintained once.

Today, analyses are created from the quality reports that serve the continuous improvement process. The findings from the evaluations are shared and made available within the department, production and service partners

The internal processing, such as the automatic creation of the customer order, and the automated dispatch processing with automated report mail in free cases were added values that KEB had not previously had in mind and which were added as additional advantages during the implementation of the software. Other highlights during the introduction for KEB were the presentation of warranty data in a traffic light system and change notifications in parts lists. These, if available, must be carried out first. This ensures that the change notifications are checked and processed correctly.

At the beginning of the year, the same process was also implemented by KEB at the plant in China. The integration with the joint SAP database also scored points. The prompt implementation in the American subsidiary is already being planned.

In the future, KEB will continue to drive forward the automation of service processes and would like to offer its customers online self-services.

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