How the Global UNITED GRINDING Group Restructured Its Service Operations

They expect information to be available at all times, processes to work, and not to be dependent on business hours or individual contact persons.

UNITED GRINDING Group faced exactly this challenge.

Starting Point: High Complexity in Service

The scale is considerable:

• approximately 150,000 machines in the field
• up to 70,000 spare parts
• 550 employees in customer care
• support via 50 helplines in multiple languages

Service was well organized but not seamlessly digital in key areas.

A central problem lay in the processes:

• spare parts were identified manually
• quotes and orders were recorded manually
• processes were communication-intensive

This worked as long as complexity was manageable. With increasing demands, it became a bottleneck.

The Central Question

The challenge was not to improve individual processes.

The real question was: How do you create a structure that works across all brands, systems, and customer groups?

What was needed was not another standalone solution, but a central platform that maps the entire service operation.

The Step to the Platform

With Transaction-Network, exactly this structure was introduced.

The platform was connected to existing systems, particularly SAP, and could be used productively within a few weeks.

The decisive point: no new system had to be built. The platform builds on existing structures and connects them.

What Has Concretely Changed

The biggest change is visible in the daily work of employees and customers.

Machines are mapped as digital units. All relevant information - from documentation to technical details - is available at any time.

This means:

A customer no longer has to go through multiple channels to get information. A service technician no longer has to gather data. Access is direct and seamless.

Less Manual Work, Fewer Errors

A central effect lies in the reduction of manual processes.

Previously, orders and information often had to be transferred manually. Today these steps run digitally through the platform and are transferred directly into existing systems.

This has two immediate consequences:

• significantly fewer errors
• noticeable relief for the back office

Time that was previously tied up in coordination and transfer is now available for value-adding tasks.

Spare Parts and Service Work Together

Another important point is the connection between the spare parts process and service.

Via the platform, customers can identify components directly and decide whether a technician is needed. If so, the order can be triggered immediately.

This leads to:

• faster decision-making
• better-prepared deployments
• reduction of unnecessary on-site visits

From Reactive to Proactive Service

A significant advance lies in planning.

Through maintenance calendars and histories, it becomes visible when action is needed. Technicians often know before a deployment which parts will be needed.

This changes the logic of service: away from reactive troubleshooting toward plannable, proactive work.

The goal is clear: prevent downtime before it occurs.

The Real Challenge: Data Quality

Here too, a familiar pattern emerges.

Introducing the platform itself was not the hardest part.

The biggest task lay in cleaning and structuring the master data.

Only when this is clean can a platform develop its full impact.

Conclusion

The central insight from this project is clear:

Manual processes and isolated systems reach their limits in service. With increasing complexity, they become a risk.

Only a seamless structure in which data and processes are brought together creates the foundation for:

• Speed
• Transparency
• Scalability