Service support made easier

We spoke with Eric Arnoldus, Technical Customer Trainer at Fast & Fluid, about the main differences between the Harbil Next Gen and other dispensers in terms of service support. And in what ways the Harbil serviceability has reached the next level for service technicians.

Eric and his colleague Rob Hoogland have trained and supported many customers since the HA480 was first introduced in 2017. The learning curve has been enormous with all the technical advancements, such as the ability to read out the service dashboard to make the life of support technicians a lot easier.

But there are many more serviceability advantages in the Harbil Next Gen dispensers, just think of the operator display, service dashboard and spare parts system.

Eric Arnoldus, Technical Customer Trainer at Fast & Fluid, explains how life as a service technician has become a lot easier and more efficient since the Harbil Next Gen dispensers came on the market. “Not only for our support team at Fast & Fluid, but also for customers with their own service organization”, Eric explains. “The operator display gives us vital information”
“A great example is the operator display”, he continues. “If a customer calls us and says that the dispenser isn’t working, our first question is

What do you see on the Operator Display?
The Operator Display gives us vital information as to the problem that arose;
it brings more clarity. Sometimes we can rectify the issue straight away, for instance if the emergency stop is accidentally pressed in”.
What many customers find very convenient is that they no longer have to open the machine to find a fault, but can see the problem straight away simply by looking at the operator display. Another handy feature of the display is the reset option on the display itself in the event of an error message. Sometimes initializing the machine again is the simplest answer, which can be done with just one press of a button without opening a single door or panel.

“The service dashboard helps to understand where the issue is coming from”
The service dashboard allows the technicians to act more efficiently when they encounter an issue in the field. Eric explains: “In case a customer contacts us with a certain problem, we can now open the Service Dashboard by using a TeamViewer connection to better understand where the issue is coming from.
The Service Dashboard serves then as an additional diagnostic tool providing us a clear overview of the machine’s status, colorant health and the housekeeping behavior of the operator. This speeds up the troubleshooting process and enables us to solve the issue remotely, or when going into the field helps to make sure that all necessary spare parts are brought along.”

With the previous generation Harbil, we had to physically visit the customer and only then could the technician determine what was wrong. And if he didn’t have the right spare parts with him, it meant an extra trip.” This method of remote monitoring is used by our service team at the helpdesk, but we are also seeing more and more customers monitoring their own dispensers in the same manner. “It enables them to deploy their service department more effectively and helps keep the number of daily service calls to a minimum”, Eric explains.

Easy access to perform maintenance
Dispensers can be heavy and robust, especially if you look at the HA680. Servicing the Harbil Next Gens is easier than ever before. You no longer need to pull the machine out to reach the parts. The front panel gives easy access to perform maintenance, replace a piston or in case of a HA480/680 even swap a complete canister if needed. A real time saver!

Identical Key Components
Uniformity and modularity are major advantages of the Harbil Next Gen’s spare parts system.
Eric continues: “A number of key components, such as the pump housing, valve unit, power supply and power board, are identical in all three dispensers. For some customers, having just one type of component on the warehouse shelf offers benefits in terms of storage space, inventory costs and service time. And for the service technicians on the road, fewer components means more service-friendly solutions.”

Fast & Fluid Academy
With the new HA180 dispenser, it is essential to have an updated training course in place for technicians. Because the HA180 is based on the same technology platform as the HA480/680 our training job is made easier and for the customer also easier to digest

Starting in October, training courses for the HA180 will be included in our F&F Academy training program.