Special machines are being installed and serviced virtually around the world from Slagelse

ODIN Engineering is committed to providing fast and effective installation and servicing of the business-critical special machines delivered to customers throughout the world. These are machines that are specially tailored to the customers’ needs and specifications.

But how do you provide installation and servicing for international customers during this time of coronavirus, where many of the tasks have to be dealt with at ODIN’s premises in Slagelse?

With virtual solutions, ODIN’s service department can guide technicians and service staff on-site at customers’ premises anywhere in the world. So, ODIN’s own service technicians have put their suitcases to one side for the moment, switched on their PCs and worked more closely with each other.

ODIN Engineering is not satisfied simply with constructing the most amazing business-critical special machines for major international production companies. Once the machines have been tested and approved by customers at the machine factory in Slagelse, they are dismantled and shipped to their destination.

The machines are then re-assembled, commissioned and serviced in the field on the customers’ production line. This aspect of ODIN’s delivery is critical for customers to be able to use special machines that simply run and work 24/7 all year round for a great many years. The work of the installation and service department is as varied as it is important:

“From time to time we dispatch an entire truck and trailer, a set of railway freight wagons or a large shipping container to the other side of the world. And now we have learnt that we do not need to dispatch service technicians with them every time. Both installation and many of the service aspects can be dealt with online. If a customer calls from Asia, for instance, our service team can guide the customer’s own technicians and service staff via video conferencing,” says Simon Friis, Service & Installation Manager at ODIN Engineering.

Installation, service, and monitoring are more effective with remote support

Previously, ODIN Engineering’s service technicians would frequently get on a plane, often with a suitcase full of spare parts for customers abroad. For those customers who subscribe to remote monitoring of their special machines with ODIN, the service technician could often be on their way to the airport before the customer managed to call up the firm and order rapid assistance for a breakdown.

But COVID-19 has turned this activity upside down.

“Travel restrictions mean that we now have significantly fewer fitters available for on-site installation and service tasks abroad. With remote support, we can get started as soon as we have the right spare parts and a good Internet connection with the site where our assistance is needed. This is true of both scheduled servicing and urgent support. I can easily imagine remote support being here to stay,” says Simon Friis.

Customers are responding positively to the virtual assistance for installation and service
ODIN Engineering is also finding that customers have responded positively to the new possibilities for receiving guidance on installation and service through virtual remote support:

“We hold virtual meeting sessions with a camera and instructions so that customers are guided on carrying out installation and service work at their own production facility. It works really well with our customers in the USA, for instance. We’re getting extremely positive feedback from them,” says Simon Friis.

According to Simon Friis, the new virtual solutions also benefit internal cooperation in the service department and with the other departments at ODIN Engineering.

“We use an app in the service department where we register all the tasks and coordinate duty schedules internally in the team. It makes it easier for us to coordinate things internally, and we take turns in supervising the remote monitoring and distance telephone for urgent matters, allowing us to instantly set up service cases when customers need them,” says Simon Friis. He also points to online video meetings as an effective virtual solution that benefits the service department:

“The Teams app has, if anything, become our primary means of communication. It is especially useful for weekly meetings and for coordinating with other departments or making arrangements internally in the service department. But we also use it when we talk to suppliers and our customers abroad.”

Rapid, punctual service for special machines

According to Simon Friis, ODIN Engineering is particularly good at providing rapid and punctual service for the business-critical special machines. If customers need urgent service, Simon Friis ensures that the right people deal with the service case. ODIN Engineering has often been able to ensure problems are resolved in the course of a few hours or a day, so that customers’ special machines are soon up and running again.

“We’re striving for near 100% availability. We must demonstrate to customers that we respond quickly when they need us to. They can contact one of our expert service technicians on our service telephone at any time, for instance,” says Simon Friis, adding:

“Previously, we were always ready to get on a plane with an important spare part to fly to the other side of the world. With our new virtual solutions, we can often respond even faster than before, even if we can’t always meet the customers in person.”

Specialists with a culture that benefits the service field

As Service & Installation Manager, Simon Friis heads up the installation and service department and is responsible for ODIN Engineering’s three service areas: Installation and commissioning, monitoring of special machines and scheduled or urgent service both at home and abroad.

“From the very moment I was appointed, I could see for myself that ODIN is innovative, highly specialised and passionately committed to what we do,” says Simon Friis, adding:

“We design and invent machines and are always happy to meet new challenges from our customers. If a machine bears the ODIN name, you can always be sure that it will be extremely robust, as many of our special machines can run problem-free for decades.”

Specialisation is deeply ingrained in the culture of ODIN Engineering, and this, according to Simon Friis, gives the company unique strengths in the service field:

“Several of my colleagues have been here for many years and can therefore draw on vast reserves of specialist knowledge about the machines. In addition, the company has a flat structure, with very direct communication lines between staff and management. This means we can take well-informed decisions quickly when it comes to servicing our customers’ special machines.”