Gulf Construction Online - Software helps KiCE boost customer support

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Team effort ... using Team Viewer, KiCE can provide online support to its customers.

Software helps KiCE boost customer support

01 July 2011

AL KIFAH Construction Equipment (KiCE) Factory, the sole manufacturer of batching plants in Saudi Arabia, is now fitted with Team Viewer, a software solution that provides remote access and support over the Internet.

In addition, the firm has begun upgrading the batching plant of its existing customers to enable it to remotely monitor the performance of this equipment, diagnose faults and troubleshoot on line.

“It is a free service that KiCE Factory is offering to its batching plant customers, in line with its goals of ensuring excellence in customer service,” says Saleh Al Katheer, general manager of KiCE Factory. “Introducing the software solution into new batching plant costs us thousands of dollars but we do not transfer these costs to the customer but rather offer it as a valued-added feature.”

“Team Viewer can help diagnose the problems online and will reduce maintenance time, especially for remote batching plant. With this new service, we are well ahead of our competitors in ensuring prompt support and are helping customers to reduce maintenance costs by diagnosing potential problems,” he adds.

KiCE Factory introduced the software about two months ago to enhance its customer support services. To date, some 30 plants – including five new plants – have the software installed.

According to Al Katheer, KiCE’s customers have been pleased with the “instantaneous support, and the feedback from them has been extremely positive”.

“Most of our clients are set up in remote locations – sometimes as far as 12 to 15 hours by road – and downtime on the batching plant means a downtime on the entire fleet. Hence, efficient customer support is crucial to provide them with a solution as quickly and efficiently as possible,” he says. “With this software, the customer basically needs to connect to our computers to enable us to evaluate performance and troubleshoot. In most cases, we have been able to guide their staff on what actions require to be taken without the need for further intervention and spare parts.”

On delivery of the batching plant, KiCE provides its client’s staff with three days of training in operation of the equipment and troubleshooting.

Team Viewer provides remote access and support over the Internet.

While Team Viewer is a well-recogniseddownloadable software, KiCE has chosen the premium option which allows continuous online operation to troubleshoot for multiple customers, says Al Katheer.

“We currently handle up to three customers simultaneously, whereas we have the capacity to cater to five or six clients at the same time,” he points out. “Customers can request connection with our computers on an ‘as and when required’ basis or choose to remain continuously online with KiCE, which enables us to undertake preventative maintenance by diagnosing potential problems before they are encountered.”

Al Katheer acknowledges that some of its clients are so remotely located that they need to opt for a satellite line or the more economical GSM connection.

Apart from online support, KiCE has maintenance workshops in Hofuf (main workshop), Dammam, Riyadh and Jeddah, as well as an office in Dubai, UAE.

About 95 per cent of KiCE’s customers are based in Saudi Arabia or the UAE, with 15 per cent of them currently having Team Viewer installed. KiCE is now focusing on expanding the network, which is a time-consuming process as it requires the firm to go to each and every batching plant to upgrade it.

Apart from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, KiCE has recently supplied batching plants to Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman. “In Bahrain, we have provided a plant to Al Durazi Batching Company, two units to Al Manaratain and one to Redx, to which now we have a second plant on order,” he adds.

KiCE was launched six years ago to market construction equipment in Saudi Arabia. The company has a partnership agreement with Fujian Snowman Company to market, sell and support its Snowkey concrete cooling systems in Saudi Arabia. It also has the exclusive dealership to market and distribute Junjin pumps – mobile or static in lengths from 25 to 63 m – in the Gulf and represents the Truemax Company of China, which provides tower cranes, placing booms and dust control systems.