Posted to News on 23rd Oct 2008, 14:41
RepairPlus service for automation from various suppliers
Failure of automation equipment is extremely rare but, when it does happen, it does not have to be a disaster. The Rockwell Automation RepairPlus service will quickly repair equipment from a variety of manufacturers, using replacement parts that meet or even exceed the original design specifications. Rockwell Automation's RepairPlus Service is able to repair, test and return over 50,000 items, supporting over 5000 different factory automation manufacturers.
RepairPlus is a single-source repair service for all electrical, electronic, mechanical and servo products from many manufacturers, covering repairs to motors, mechanical services, pumps, CNC machines, power supplies, gearboxes, PLCs and AC/DC drives.
Without the Rockwell Automation RepairPlus service, companies will typically have higher operational costs because they will need to contact several suppliers, warranty is only given to repaired components and not the unit, they do not get a detailed failure report with the repaired item, the repair process is not certified and their repair shop may not have full functional test capabilities. Kurt Kueherz, Director of Customer Services Management in the EMEA region at Rockwell Automation, explains: "A customer may have upwards of 30 vendors to deal with when equipment needs repairing, so they will have to raise a purchase order and pay an invoice for each one, as well as expediting and receiving to and from each one.
"They also get variable degrees of quality and warranty, whereas if they choose the Rockwell Automation RepairPlus service they get a consistent service from one single vendor with good pricing. Our motto is: 'Made by anyone. Repaired by us.'
"RepairPlus is a Europe-, Middle East- and Africa-wide (EMEA-wide) initiative, and this is what differentiates us from most vendors. We handle the entire process and either repair it ourselves or through a network of partners; but, as far as the customer is concerned, this is a seamless service from Rockwell Automation as a single vendor."
RepairPlus comprises eight steps:
- Collection of the item to be repaired from customer premises
- Thorough cleaning of equipment to remove contamination
- Diagnostic testing to locate problematic components (the entire unit is checked, even if the problem is identified during the early stages)
- Circuit analysis on electronic products to isolate marginal components
- Replacement of problematic and marginal components with parts that meet or exceed original specifications. Items that cannot be repaired in-house are handled by vendors who meet Rockwell Automation's quality standards and offer functional test capabilities
- Verification of total circuit board quality using state-of-the-art automated testing equipment
- Coding and tagging of circuit boards
- Packing and shipping of repaired equipment, together with a detailed failure report. Repaired equipment is protected by a full 12-month warranty covering the entire unit, not just the repaired components
A rigorous and thorough repair procedure is followed, with every stage performed in a static-free environment using ISO 9002-certified procedures to maintain electronic integrity. Customers help by providing details of the manufacturer, equipment description (model, etc), fault description, and technical details of electric motors, gearboxes, inverters and AC/DC drives, servo motors and pumps.
