Schindler, the number one in the Swiss elevator and escalator business, transports countless numbers of people every day and insists on the highest quality without exception. Thanks to the dense service network, a service engineer is always quickly on site for repair work or emergencies. For many years, Schindler has relied on swissconnect ag, the fastest and most sustainable courier service in Switzerland, for the express delivery of urgently required construction or replacement parts. In the following text, you’ll find out more about this exciting collaboration.
Outsourcing the courier service
Before collaboration with swissconnect, Schindler operated 18 regional warehouses in Switzerland with their own employees and courier vehicles. When a service engineer urgently needed a particular replacement part, he either drove to the allocated regional warehouse or a member of logistics staff drove out to him in a car to meet him half-way and handed over the replacement part at the meet-up point. In every case, the service engineer had to leave the construction site, lost precious time on the road and the down-time of the system continued even longer. Since 2015, swissconnect has been working together with its local partner couriers, Velokurier Luzern Zug, who took over the delivery of all urgently required replacement parts for Schindler Aufzüge AG.
By outsourcing the express deliveries to swissconnect, we have been able to drive forward centralisation and reduce our fixed costs considerably. The existing central warehouse was expanded, and we were able to close the 18 peripheral warehouses. Since then, not only do our service engineers get the parts they need even quicker, but they can also concentrate completely on the repair work – this benefits our customers.
Head Supply Chain Service, Schindler Aufzüge AG
Digital courier order via API interface
The Schindler service engineers always have the parts they frequently need with them in their service vans. But when a special component is required for the repair work, the service engineer sends an order for this out from the work site to the central warehouse via SAP app. The information is transmitted to the swissconnect logistics software via an API interface and Velokurier Luzern sends an order out to the nearest courier for the pick-up in the Ebikon central warehouse. For smaller items, a bicycle or cargo bike is used; the natural gas delivery van is used for larger items or multiple parts. The parts are loaded onto the next available train by the courier in Lucerne and are transported free of traffic jams and practically emissions-free to their destination – Switzerland-wide. A partner courier commissioned by swissconnect is already waiting there on the platform and offloads the express consignment from the closed-off compartment. Shortly before delivery, the service engineer is contacted by telephone and the exact meeting place arranged. The courier hands the replacement part over to him personally at the construction site. The digital order transmission via API interface from the SAP-ERP guarantees an uncomplicated, error-free and, above all, fast order process.
Express logistics plays an important role within the supply chain. Our elevators are also located in important buildings such as hospitals and have to be in constant operation and repaired quickly in the event of a breakdown.
Head Supply Chain Service, Schindler Aufzüge AG
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