Case Study:
GF Machining Solutions X Partium
How GF Machining Solutions managed to optimize part search-related processes using Partium
The Challenge
GF Machining Solutions is present in more than 50 countries. Due to their diverse product portfolio and the
worldwide locations, GF Machining Solutions had to deal with heterogeneous data, and different tools, systems, databases and processes per location. A small team was and is still doing a great job keeping all the data up to date and helping to find the right spare parts. The teams' collaboration was excellent. They went above and beyond to identify parts, even if it required 1st, 2nd, and sometimes 3rd Level Support, to identify a certain part.
GF Machining Solutions is also about to establish a web portal for spare parts, and started harmonizing all the legacy data (legacy tools, applications, databases, Excel files, PDFs,…), and switching from many different local processes to a global one with a unified IT system.
The Solution
GF Machining Solutions came across Partium, which allowed them to provide a central tool, available indifferent languages, that helps harmonize heterogeneous data and systems and delivers an amazing user experience. With Partium GF employees can find parts even faster and further professionalize and streamline the cooperation between the teams. The AI-based Partium search (Mobile Part Finder) is integrated into legacy systems and will also be part of the new eCommerce world to manage the spare part search process centrally.
GF Machining Solutions started the rollout process in December 2022. In only two months, they rolled out Partium to 773 internal users in over 15 countries. Currently, Partium is implemented in 24 countries. In the future, they also plan to provide the solution not only to internal employees but also to external customers.
The Benefits
1. Fast & efficient way to search for parts
With Partium, field service engineers have a streamlined communication platform in which they can ask internal customer service agents for help to identify parts. They can check the request status(open, in progress, solved) via app. CSAs benefit from the FSEs' search history provided via app.
2. Streamlined communication process
With Partium, field service engineers have a streamlined communication platform in which they can ask internal customer service agents for help to identify parts. They can check the request status(open, in progress, solved) via app. CSAs benefit from the FSEs' search history provided via app.
3. Availability in different languages
Partium is available globally and in different languages, which makes it perfectly suitable for international organizations.
4. First-class service
Thanks to Partium, GF Machining Solutions manages to deliver a first-class service, despite having to deal with heterogeneous data.
5. Non-expert-centric solution
Specific knowledge about replacement parts is often connected to a few experts within the company. With Partium the part search is less expert-centric.
6. Integration options
Partium offers different integration options and can and will also be connected to the GF Machining Solutions webshop in the future.
From expert-centric spare part searches to a harmonized AI-supported search process
Additionally to selling machines, GF Machining Solutions also sells maintenance services to its customers. Since GF Machining Solutions consists of several international company branches with different legacy systems in different languages, finding the right spare part at the customer onsite required deep knowledge of each business unit's systems and applications. GF Machining Solutions employees went above & beyond to make their customers happy and help them identify the right part. It often involved several emails, WhatsApps, and phone calls with internal customer service agents and sometimes 3rd level support. GF Machining Solutions was looking for a way to accelerate these searches and streamline communication between the teams to be able to deliver an even better customer experience.
GF Machining Solutions quickly realized that Partium's Enterprise Part Search would be the link to speed up part searches for their internal teams.
Partium's visual, semantic text and filter search allows users from all experience levels to search and find parts in seconds rather than hours or days. The agent portal offers a streamlined communication platform, allowing field service engineers to ask customer service agents for support. These internal agents get more qualified request with pre-filled information such as location, machine filter,... and can support or confirm the part directly in the app.
On top of that, Partium also helps GF Machining Solutions enhancing their master data. The Partium searches provide information how and what users search. GF Machining Solutions can use these infos for their webshop project, which is planned to be launched soon. Partium should also be integrated into the webshop, so that the part search journey is made easy & convenient for customers too.
Global availability and flexible & fast rollout
Partium is a tangible, easy-to-implement digital solution that immediately creates added value directly at the base.
GF Machining Solutions uses Partium in the US, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, India, Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Slovakia, and the UK.
