With the start of the rollout of the Heidelberg Assistant (presented at drupa 2016) in the pilot markets of Germany, Switzerland, USA and Canada, the company is placing the customer-supplier relationship on a new footing.
With the Heidelberg Assistant, the company is continuing to expand its range of digitisation solutions and enabling customers to run their processes smoothly and to operate their print shops smartly and efficiently. It gives users a complete overview of the service and maintenance status of their print shop, including data-based failure prediction. Users also get access to the biggest knowledge base in the industry, benefiting from new performance services that enable them to maximise the potential of their entire value chain. Access to Big Data performance analytics also offers further potential for boosting productivity. The Assistant will enable Heidelberg to further scale its existing Big Data applications such as Predictive Monitoring and Performance Consulting in the market.
‘With the market launch of the Heidelberg Assistant, we are reaching a milestone and taking the digital customer approach to the next level. This will enable our customers to adopt a smart approach to the operation of their print shops with high performance and maximum transparency. With access to the new Heidelberg eShop, we are greatly simplifying the ordering process for our customers,’ said Dr. Ulrich Hermann, Member of the Management Board responsible for Heidelberg Services and Chief Digital Officer.
Customers get secure and personal access to the Heidelberg Assistant, which allows them to call up all information such as the status or productivity of their presses or services availed of in their company, anytime, anywhere. In addition, things like software updates, predictive maintenance messages or contract management and an invoice overview are possible in the system.
The Heidelberg Assistant also offers direct access to the new Heidelberg eShop. This link creates a smart eCommerce solution, since products can be individually recommended according to customers’ installations and needs. Consumables and selected service parts are generally delivered within 24 hours.
Heidelberg developed the Assistant in cooperation with 30 pilot customers. Workflows were intensively analysed to optimally support the various tasks of the customer’s employees through the use of the Heidelberg Assistant. Furthermore, the results, ideas, and suggestions from over 400 international customer surveys – at trade fairs like China Print 2017 – were incorporated into the development of the platform.
‘With the Heidelberg Assistant, we’re digitising collaboration with the customer. The lessons learned from this form the basis for the development of our new digital business models and speed up the digital transformation of the company,’ said Hermann.
