How to Ensure Tailored Service and Support for a Mobile Workforce on a Global Scale
As organizations embrace mobile solutions on a global scale, one of the challenges they face is ensuring a fast and efficient repair and service process for mobile devices. While it has become second nature to communicate and share information with colleagues across the globe, moving devices and parts across international borders brings its own set of hurdles.
Keeping up with armed services’ international deployments
Few organizations operate in more disparate places than the United States military, and that’s why throughout the armed services you can find Toughbook users who look to Panasonic to keep their devices running no matter where they’re deployed. Though they likely received their device while being trained stateside, a service member must be confident that their mobile device can be repaired quickly even if they are taken to some of the most remote corners of the globe. If you’re deployed overseas and need a Toughbook repaired, you could face extended downtime while:
- You find a way to ship your device back to a Panasonic U.S. service center
- The country of origin’s customs department processes the shipment
- Panasonic’s service center performs the repairs (average 2 days or less turnaround time) and sends your device back
- Your repaired device waits to clear customs… again
Responding to remote locations for the oil and gas industry
In the commercial realm, major multinational companies with global footprints face similar challenges. Oil and gas companies, for instance, operate in isolated geographies with extreme weather conditions. The oil and gas industry doesn’t have the luxury of choosing where to extract oil. These companies are seeking new sources of oil and gas all over the globe. While headquarters may be in the US, often rigs are located in international waters and sending devices back home would cause significant downtime.
Companies with international operations understand the challenges that come with shipping units out for service and repairs, with costs, regulations and infrastructure varying wildly from country to country. These far-ranging organizations require a specialized approach to device maintenance to ensure cost and time savings.
Flexibility to meet the needs of global organizations
At Panasonic, we work every day to help our customers address these challenges through programs like our Global Warranty Uplift Program, a unique approach to service and repairs that offers flexibility and support to meet the needs of organizations who operate around the world.So how does Panasonic differentiate from competitors when it comes to international service and support? With three 3 primary repair centers in the United States, the UK and Japan as well as 21 additional in-country repair centers around the world, Panasonic’s global support is unmatched. The Panasonic Global Warranty Uplift Program provides repair training for technicians at these repair centers on specific U.S. Toughbook models currently operating near their respective locations.
Panasonic also pre-stages parts to global repair locations in advance of international deployments to ensure a 90-day supply of spare parts are available in the correct regional service centers, optimizing turnaround time and guaranteeing devices will be returned in a predefined time period, often 96 hours.
Limiting downtime is critical. In addition to strict international customs, it can take up to three weeks to simply ship parts from the US to the EU. Without comprehensive international support, devices could be out of commission for weeks, if not months. The Panasonic Global Warranty Uplift Program enables customers to proactively plan for repairs and have access to spare equipment that is essential to keeping mobile workers performing efficiently across the globe.
Reduce out of warranty costs
International repairs can be very expensive, especially when the process results in out of warranty costs. Expediting international repair not only saves time but it also reduces the cost of repairs. Depending on the destination, shipping a device internationally can cost more than 50 percent of the value of that device. Additionally, without the level of support from a program like the Global Warranty Uplift Program, the time it takes to obtain a price quote and then secure approved funding for the repair could result in out of warranty repairs. With Panasonic, customers can completely avoid out of warranty costs for international repairs.
Our customers, particularly those within the military and the oil and gas industry look to Panasonic for global support. The Panasonic Global Warranty Uplift Program extends the same turnaround commitments to international customers that it offers to those with domestic operations only. This means Panasonic is able to offer custom service level agreements for many countries outside of the US, providing flexibility and support to meet the needs of global organizations and customers who understand that work happens around the clock and around the world. The mobile workforce is operating across the globe, and Panasonic is there to support you anywhere work happens.
For more information about our Global Warranty Uplift Program, visit our website.