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It’s a given: Capital equipment, especially equipment that runs hard, will need service. The larger the installed base of equipment, the more service support that will be required. Burkle North America's Schmoll service Manager, Evan Howard, discusses how Schmoll's service organization has grown in response to equipment sales in the region, a conversation that touches on hiring, training, spare parts logistics, and potential future growth. It’s clear that this company intends to keep its service team ahead of the curve.
Nolan Johnson: Evan, your customer service team has been busy implementing a lot of changes. What has driven that change?
Evan Howard: Everyone has seen success. There have been many machine purchases, and that has driven much of our service demand. In 2018, we serviced roughly 90 machines in North America; today, we have about 360 machines. That growth has driven the demand for service.
Johnson: Is this growth a result of added capacity or new capabilities?
Howard: It’s a combination of both. With respect to capacity, you're seeing more boards built in America. Technology is moving faster than we can keep up with it. For example, our machines are running with linear motors instead of AC motors. There’s also the demand of special functions like nonconductive depth drilling and routing, not to mention using our new touch probe to achieve those smaller depth tolerances that are the new norm.
Johnson: I have a background in capital equipment for semiconductor, so I recognize that moving to a linear motor gives you a lot more positional accuracy.
Howard: You'll gain accuracy as well as speed which is, effectively, instant positioning. Linear motors in the Z-axis have been a source of growth for Schmoll. We are replacing a lot of old equipment.
Johnson: Added capacity is encouraging, but customers are also looking for new capabilities. What do customers want in their drill machines?
Howard: The demand in drill machines is speed because speed is money. It’s a massive benefit if they can make more boards in less time. If your machines are holding accuracy a little bit better than some of the older machines, now you're making boards faster and with better quality.
Johnson: In the last three years, you’ve installed something like 200 new machines; that's a lot more to service. How has the service department changed? What have Burkle and Schmoll done regarding overall serviceability for these new machines?
Howard: When you work on a Schmoll machine, there’s a lot to learn. It's at least a year before you feel comfortable as a service technician. When we hire new staff, we fly them around the country, giving them exposure to how it all works. They shadow one of our service engineers, then always travel to the factory in Germany to learn.
It's hard to justify hiring enough service technicians until you have enough machines to keep them all busy. But our management understands that we need to hire staff early. We have many machines on order, being built, and sent here, so there is a lot of demand for service. At times, we feel like we’re behind with our hiring, and it’s due to the long training process. Developing our service department has been delicate.
To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the June 2023 issue of PCB007 Magazine, click here.
