February 24, 2020

Innovation story

A strategic partnership

Through smart tools and service, Atlas Copco outperformed the competition and helped a leading automotive manufacturer lower its total cost of ownership.

Adding value with strategic partnership

Atlas Copco Tools and Assembly Systems in the US had been providing advanced tools for a leading automotive company since almost a decade, securing an efficient assembly line. The offer also included a complete service and maintenance solution.

Over time, Atlas Copco solutions made such a strong impression on the customer that the initial deal expanded into a much deeper business relationship. In the spirit of innovation, this new business arose from the service side rather than the product itself.

“Often a service contract follows on a product sale, but this is an example of how the business can just as easily work the other way. Here, the ability to collect and analyze data resulted in a fact-based analysis the customer could trust and act on because the cost and quality benefits were obvious,” says Chris Hauff, Business Line Manager Service, Atlas Copco.

Reducing turnaround repair time

“We were asked to manage all tooling for the customer, including those of our competitors. After 12 months of key data collection, we put together a value proposition and business case,” says Elvis Jagat, Regional Sales Manager, Atlas Copco.

The results were astonishing and showed that Atlas Copco could help the customer reduce turnaround repair time for production tools by more than 80 per cent, and lower the annual repair rate by more than 30 per cent.

The turnaround time repair for production tools has been reduced to between one and five days in comparison to competitors' products at 30 to 90 days. This results in a higher output and the lowest cost of ownership on the market

Elvis Jagat, Regional Sales Manager, Atlas Copco

In close collaboration

The sales scope has now been extended and the additional smart connected tooling is topped up in the existing onsite maintenance contract. The customer is duly switching all of its tooling to Atlas Copco. 

“By working closely with the customer’s engineering and sourcing team, we were able to identify and validate the process. With products and software becoming more and more complex, it is important that we offer a superior customer experience that shows the value of our full offer,” explains Chris Hauff.

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