INTERSCHALT Declares Elcome to Be “Best Service Partner of 2016”

GERMANY – Sept. 15, 2016 – INTERSCHALT maritime systems GmbH, the provider of IMO shore-based maintenance service for navigation and communication equipment, and also a manufacturer of Voyage Data Recorder systems, has declared Elcome International to be the “Best Service Partner for 2016.”

Elcome was the top-ranking service provider among the more than 60 service partners of the INTERSCHALT network. Based in Dubai, Elcome provides shipboard service from offices in 12 countries with a service area extending from Suez to Singapore. The company has been handling NavCom service calls for INTERSCHALT since 2011.

The winner was determined based on a customer feedback survey intended to sustainably ensure the quality of on-board service work at the already high level, and – in the event of any problems – improve the rate of responsiveness. The Service Engineer Survey was introduced by INTERSCHALT in May 2016 consequential to the measure agreed on with customers at the INTERSCHALT NavCom User Conference in April 2016. Since then, after each on-board service call the ship’s command has been given a feedback form to assess the appearance and equipment of the technician, as well as the punctuality, problem solution rate and the customer’s satisfaction with the service performance.

Results of the assessments are conveyed to INTERSCHALT within 24 hours. If a problem occurs, INTERSCHALT coordinators can directly contact the ship, and the local service partner and/or the shipping company to resolve the matter. The results confirm a significantly high first-time fix rate for the INTERSCHALT service calls – an impressive level of more than 90%.

“Our investment in the availability of spare parts, and especially in the intensive training of our service technicians, is bearing fruit,” said Surjit Singh, deputy general manager for customer support of Elcome International. “We are proud of this award from INTERSCHALT, and see it as an important validation of our position as one of the world’s largest and best ship service companies.”

“We would like to view this prize as an incentive within our network to ensure that we provide the best possible NavCom services. This year we have concluded a preferred service partner contract with Elcome. The results also confirm from the ship’s perspective that our confidence in Elcome is well-founded,” says Rainer Twisterling, Managing Director at INTERSCHALT and responsible for the service sector.

The Service Engineer Survey is now an integral part of INTERSCHALT’s quality assurance. The “Best Service Partner of the Year” award will be bestowed annually as an effective instrument to ensure the quality of the service.

Image note

Rainer Twisterling (L) and winner of the “Best Service Partner of 2016” Mr. Surjit Singh, Deputy General Manager for Customer Support at Elcome, after the award presentation at SMM 2016 in Hamburg.