Hardinge Group customer service strengthened

Management of the previously separate Hardinge Machine Tools and Jones & Shipman (Grinding) customer care operations is now harmonised, with Alan Fisher appointed customer care manager for both the Hardinge milling and turning products and the Jones & Shipman grinding operations. Mr Fisher is currently customer care manager for Jones & Shipman, although, in addition to his extensive service support and grinding expertise, he has wide ranging machine tool experience, including technical engineering, R&D, demonstration and applications engineering. In his new role, he is joined by Kevin Gilbert, a respected, experienced figure in the machine tool industry, who will assist in reviewing existing systems and practices, and implementing change as required to ensure improved efficiencies and response performance to customers. Both the Hardinge and Jones & Shipman customer care teams have been strengthened in recent months, with five help desk and service engineer vacancies filled to ensure a full-strength team is on hand to support customers. In the field, the on-site service personnel will retain their current focus on turning, milling and grinding. John McTernan, managing director, European Sales & Marketing for Hardinge Group (pictured), says: "We are delighted to announce this investment in developing the customer care teams, which will create the platform to further improve levels of customer satisfaction in the UK and Ireland, for all group products. "All office-based spares and service personnel for Hardinge, Bridgeport and Jones & Shipman products have recently been consolidated on a single site, creating an ideal opportunity to strengthen the teams and utilise their combined knowledge and experience, whilst keeping a clearly defined focus for all products. All spare parts will be on a single site by the year end and there is further investment being made in computerised storage and retrieval systems to further improve efficiency." The moves at Leicester are, in fact, in keeping with one of Hardinge Group CEO Rick Simons' key goals world-wide, which is toimprove the customers experience; from placing an order right through to ongoing maintenance contracts and support after the warranty expires.