Tobias Mader: Expert support on-site

Tobias, what is your role at Uhlmann?

We are most often called to solve acute problems. In these situations, our customers expect their machines to be ready to use again quickly. Troubleshooting is sometimes a quick process, but in other cases our team in Laupheim is called in.

I also help our customers with running-in of new foils and formats and support operating personnel with Training on the job. My responsibilities also include commissioning new systems, installing upgrades and relocating machines.

What do you find particularly interesting about your work?

Very clearly the variety – no two days are the same, and short term changes are part of that. This means that we need to be flexible. This is also connected to the fact that we offer contracts with 24/7 service, which means that we set out to customer locations within 24 hours. This makes the work exciting and varied.

Due to the variety of machines we produce, each of us specializes in certain machine types. For me, these are primarily blister machines and cartoners in the high-performance range. I know these machines down to the smallest detail, and continuously educate myself further.

Could you describe how your assignments typically proceed?

Every assignment as a service engineer is interesting in its own way, and involves both challenges and a sense of achievement. For example, an important customer from England called us. We first tried to solve the problem over the telephone. Despite our intensive efforts, we were not able to find a satisfactory solution. Since this was a customer with ServicePlus, I flew out to England within 24 hours.

I checked the machine on-site and determined that certain settings were not ideal. I made the necessary adjustments and the machine once again ran smoothly.
The customer's reaction was extremely positive. He was not only relieved to have the problem solved quickly, but also impressed by our reaction speed. I was very proud that he was so satisfied and grateful.

What do you like about your work?

The responses from our customers are mostly very positive and appreciative. We are often deployed to assist the same customers, so we come to know many customers and their teams personally. They are happy to see trusted faces and support our engineers with their work. This close collaboration strengthens trust on both sides. I am convinced that the personal relationships and trust that we establish with our customers have a huge effect on our collaboration. In some cases, these relationships have even developed into friendships.