In January this year Ducker established its Partner Support department to provide its laundry customers not only with a genuine, effective and efficient back-up service, but a depth of support that is second to none.
Partner support is more than a buzz phrase at Ducker. Since the beginning of the year the company and its customers have been enjoying the benefits of a newly created Partner Support department. "It's already showing great dividends," says Rod Holloway, partner support director.
The 35-strong Partner Support department is now the largest within the Ducker group, and its formation signals a greater emphasis on maintaining and building relationships with the company's customers. It is something the company has always taken seriously, but, as Rod Holloway admits, in the past there have been what he calls "growing pains".
Ducker has grown over the years into a sizeable company. In 1992 it acquired the Supertrack monorail conveyor system whose major market was in the export sector. Rod Holloway says it became apparent that the laundry market would settle into a number of large machinery suppliers operating worldwide.
As a consequence, in 1998, Ducker formed a partnership with Kannegiesser, which was looking for a quality monorail system to complement its range of equipment.
At the same time, Ducker set up a company to act as Kannegiesser's UK distributor. With this development, the service and installation side of Ducker's business grew rapidly, as it became increasingly involved with installing and maintaining major equipment and operations, such as turnkey laundries, and so on.
It was a time of learning for the company, and it led to the Partner Support department, which was created at the beginning of the year under the aegis of Rod Holloway.
Ducker's business is divided into five clear areas:
• UK machinery sales team;
• Banbury manufacturing team;
• Kendal manufacturing team;
• Thermopatch team;
• Drycleaning team;
Until this year, each division dealt with the service side of its business autonomously. Effectively the Partner Support department has brought all these functions together. Rod Holloway says: "To be out in front, we believe the Partner Support department is vital to the long-term future of Ducker."
Based at the company's Banbury headquarters, the Partner Support department comprises three partner support managers, a technical manager, and 26 engineers. It incorporates the spare parts function too, for which there are three dedicated people running the telephone support desk.
Since merging the partner support operations, says Rod Holloway, the company's engineers have been far better utilised. Because everyone works together, there is much better communication between the teams. This helps Ducker and its customers.
Ongoing training
Within the Partner Support department there are obviously specialist skills for the various types of equipment but emphasis is now being made for cross training for all of the engineers across the department to enable a greater degree of flexibility.
This will eventually allow problems of a more minor nature to be addressed by a greater number of people thus improving the response to the customers.
Recently a two-day course was held at Bourne Linen Services in Bourne, Lincoln, which has built a new facility incorporating a Kannegiesser Powertrans tunnel washer and Supertrack monorail systems.
The course, which was conducted by the Kannegiesser training department, was held to explain and emphasise the features of the Powertrans wash line and was attended by Ducker engineers, Bourne Linen services management and operatives, and representatives from Christeyns chemical supplier.
The first day was spent physically going over the machine and familiarising everyone with its unique features and advantages and the second day was based around a powerpoint presentation and a more formal presentation.
This proved extremely informative, with an on-going question and answer session throughout the day and in-depth discussions on the versatility and mechanical aspects of the machine.
There are four engineers dedicated to software development and support throughout the group. Owing to the global nature of the monorail side, it is vital that support is available on a 24-hour basis. Indeed, there are round-the-clock emergency telephone numbers available to customers across the entire range of equipment should it be required. "Having our own in-house software engineers has proved significant in our ability to support our customers, especially outside normal working hours", says Rod Holloway."
Engineering audits
A service that is proving particularly popular is engineering audits on laundry equipment. The service is simple, and is based on engineers making a number of pre-arranged visits to laundries a set number of times each year.
Prior to a visit, the Partner Support engineer discusses with the general manager, or nominated person, any particular areas of concern. When the visit takes place, the specialist Partner Support engineer visually examines each item of equipment, taking digital photographs as a record. He subsequently produces a detailed report covering any existing and potential problems. If adjustments can be made at the time, the engineer will do this.
The report produced covers all items that can be visually inspected, and lists any new parts required, their reference numbers and cost. A quotation for Ducker to carry out any work is also provided. Any areas that cannot be inspected at the time of the visit are also noted, and arrangements are usually made for a more detailed inspection at a later date.
This is a growing service area for Ducker, and Rod Holloway explains that customers that have used it have been impressed. The report is designed to be comprehensive, yet easily understood, and allows potential problems to highlighted and addressed before they create a stoppage. This allows a higher machine utilisation and therefore increased productivity Ducker is already regarded as a one-stop shop by many laundries. The aim at the company is to provide sufficient depth of support for its customers so that they do not need to look elsewhere. With in excess of 120-years of laundry experience between Rod Holloway and his partner support managers, Ducker represents a formidable force.
