| PANASONIC PROJECTOR PREMIUM SERVICE : COMPETENT, EFFECTIVE AND FAST |
| Panasonic offers its customers projectors and service from one source: we use only components we have developed ourselves in manufacturing. And to ensure that Panasonic customers enjoy the best possible after-sales service when they need it, we set up our own centralized Projector Premium Service in the autumn of 2006, offering all European users the same high-quality support. In this report we want to show you the specific benefits for you and your customers. |
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| The hotline staff solve 90% of problems right away over the phone. | | The Cardiff control centre is constantly in the picture about enquiries in Brussels via an online link. | | The repair team starts working on a projector as soon as it is delivered. | |
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| Highly motivated and qualified:
the team for demanding jobs | | Multilingual support: Our qualified
hotline staff help you straight away | | Maximum service for Panasonic
customers | |
|  From the outset, you can sense the team spirit that is the driving force for the staff of the Panasonic Service Centre in the Welsh city of Cardiff. They are aware of their responsibility, and they do everything to make sure Panasonic customers can rely on their projector at all times.
“The customer is not just buying a good
product. He‘s buying an overall solution” –
thus Donald Maidment, head of the Cardiff
service team. “Many manufacturers sell
OEM projectors from different sources. In
such cases, it‘s hard or even impossible to
perform repairs. But Panasonic relies exclusively
on its own product developments,
both manufacturing and repairing them
itself. Thus if a unit does break down, the
customer is not left alone with the problem:
we offer him straightforward and rapid
help”, Maidment adds.
The last 6 months have shown that the
Panasonic service concept works smoothly
in day-to-day practice, and the following
steps show you just how easily this service
works for you and your customers. | | Many problems can be sorted out over the
phone – but only if the staff have been perfectly trained to deal with the products.
Thus the 9 people working at our European Panasonic projector hotline based in Brussels (for your local hotline no., see the back cover) are regularly trained on the spot by our service technicians. Anotherunique feature is the direct online link between the hotline and the repair centre in Cardiff: in difficult cases, the hotline agent contacts the technician. In this way, 90% of all “No fault found” cases are filtered out by the hotline.
Yuki Sakamoto, product manager of the
Projector Business Unit: “We invest a lot of
time and money in qualifying our hotline
staff. Experience shows that most problems can be solved easily and the projector doesn‘t need repairing after all. This means that the customer saves time and hassle, and for Panasonic, too, it‘s also an investment in the future.”
And if a more serious technical problem
does occur, the European Repair Centre in Cardiff is automatically notified. | | The Cardiff control centre coordinates the
necessary logistics without delay according
to precisely specified routines.
 To ensure that downtime for the customer is kept to a minimum, we send him a free projector on loan by DHL courier upon request: the customer normally receives the projector, of either the same category as his own or a higher category, the day after his call to the hotline. The same courier collects the defective projector from the customer free of charge – either when he delivers the replacement, or in the case of fixed installations, after the Panasonic dealer has dismantled it.
In good hands: Professional,
tried-and-tested service routines
Once the defective projector arrives at the
Cardiff repair centre, the first step is a
thorough check to establish the exact
cause of the problem. For this purpose, the
members of the repair team have the latest
technology at their disposal, as used to
develop the projectors. Apart from the
technical equipment, the qualifications of
the team are of decisive importance. | |
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|  | | “The attitude of our staff makes the difference. There are a myriad
of qualified and technically able workers available, but here we have
experienced staff who are committed to the company ethos and
take great pride in their work. Their utmost aims being supplying
top quality and ensuring customer satisfaction.”
Donald Maidment
Service Manager, Projector Business Unit Europe | |
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| The faulty components are repaired using the latest technology. | | Metrological tests of the repair work ensure
maximum reliability. | | Every projector is tested in continuous operating before it‘s sent back to the customer. | |
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| Every member of the team is excellently
trained in his particular area, and can look
back on years of practical experience.
Another major advantage is the close cooperation with the research and development section and the production facility in Japan.
The people who work there have known
every product since it came into being, and
support the team at the repair centre. This
enables the repair team to solve problems
quickly and reliably. “In concrete terms”,
thus Donald Maidment, “this means that
in the last 6 months we were able to complete 90 % of all repair jobs within 2 days.”
Everything on the spot: Know-how,
technology and spare parts
The repair centre was designed according
to the latest technological and logistics
research findings. For example, all the
technicians wear special antistatic clothing
to ensure that there is no damage to the
valuable equipment. Both the error analysis
and the repair work are carried out with
state-of-the-art measuring and testing
devices.
The adjacent Service Spare Parts store
keeps all the important parts in stock, even
for projector models that haven‘t been on
sale for 7 years. “That‘s a major plus with a
central repair facility”, Donald Maidment
says. “We don‘t need to wait for ages | | before a spare part arrives. We can start
work immediately, and that makes us
unbeatably fast.”
Many repair workshops only replace complete
circuit boards or components. At the repair centre in Cardiff, the top qualifications of the staff mean that they repair individual parts. This also enables us to gain important information for quality assurance in our development division.
 Keiji Maeda, Panasonic Marketing Europe GmbH in Wiesbaden, Germany explains the concept:
“The team knows and understands our products in detail. That enables us to avoid mindless work that would cause errors. Thus ever y technician faces new challenges daily, can demonstrate his special expertise and is fully committed to his work.”
A further increase in performance is made
possible by the close cooperation with the
Panasonic service centres in Japan and the
USA and with the R&D and manufacturing
in Japan, involving a constant exchange of
know-how | | Something you can rely on:
Every projector is fully tested
No projector leaves the repair centre before
it has been thoroughly checked after the
repair. Thus the repaired units are tested in
continuous operation to rule out possible
defects that can occur e.g. as a result of
overheating. Only once all the tests have
been passed with flying colours do we send
the projector back to the customer.
All defective components are sent to Japan
to help improve our production quality. In
this way, important information is available
to help develop new spare parts and future
projector generations.
Unbeatable teamwork:
5 days and you‘re all set!
As a rule, the customer gets his projector
back only 5 days after his first phone call to
the service hotline, regardless of where in
Europe he lives. Such a quick turnaround
is only possible thanks to effective cooperation in the entire team – something that the people in Cardiff are justly proud of. | |
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