Our Services
Ficep Corporation Maintains the Highest Ratio of Customer Service Staff to Installations in the Industry!
When Ficep Corporation was founded at the end of 2002, it consisted of a staff of two salesmen, one service tech and almost no existing customer base as the full Ficep product line had not been offered in North America prior to the founding of Ficep Corporation. The rapid acceptance of Ficep's industry-leading technology enabled us to quickly gain a substantial market share in North America by offering to the industry technological solutions that were not previously available to fabricators in North America. The thirst of the market for better CNC solutions that achieved the type of accuracy, productivity and technology that was previously not available in North America enabled us to achieve in excess of 1,200 CNC system installations in North America in this short period of time.
Growing the sales is impressive but not as important as developing the type of customer service capability that the market deserves. We appreciate that with most of our customers our CNC line represents the heart of their production facility, and if this goes down, their entire manufacturing operation can suffer almost immediately.
When you start a business, sales need to be the initial ingredient in a successful business plan, but continued growth can only transpire as the result of successful customer service. During the past few years our investment in this part of the business has been paramount and continues as our customer service staff has now grown so that our ratio of customer service staff to installations is the best in our industry!
The size of a customer service organization compared to the number of installations is extremely important, but this is only part of a successful support plan as the organization within the team and their ability to embrace state-of-the-art technological solutions is what is behind a successful customer service team!
Presently 98% of Incoming Service Calls are Resolved Remotely!
The progressive changes that have been implemented to-date permit us to now resolve 98% of customer challenges on the same day. This is a testament to the power of the Ficep "TeleService" which through the internet unleashes the diagnostic power of our PC based control system so we can essentially place a tech on-site in minutes! The same diagnostic routines, parameter changes, software installations, etc. that a tech traditionally performs on-site can now be implemented remotely through the internet.
Let's explore some of the investments and progressive changes that we have implemented during the past few years to grow our customer support.
Services and Operations
Spare Parts Support
We currently maintain several million dollars in spare parts inventory which is now secured and tracked with the implementation of an automated spare parts retrieval system. This system tracks traditional usage so we can concentrate our spare part inventory on the proper stock for overnight delivery. Some customers who can't wait for next day delivery have even elected to use our airport facility that serves our industrial park location.
Customer Service Administration
We log the service request into our customer service support software so when the tech returns the call, he has the complete machine history at his disposal and much of the current pertinent information to speed the diagnostic process. If you would like to reach us by email feel free to send your message to Service@ficepcorp.com
Experienced Tech Support
Our phone support techs now average over 25 years of CNC/computer experience which gives them the type of expertise to diagnose challenges without delay by using an internet connection to your Ficep CNC line. This is like placing a tech on-site in minutes to perform diagnostic checks, yet we may be several thousand miles away from your installation.
Customer Training
We have founded FICEP's Academy of Technology where customers can send operators and maintenance staff for training in a classroom setting without the typical interruptions that generally occur if training is done on site. This is performed before their line is installed to enhance the effectiveness of the training and installation experience. Our instructors, who conduct these classes ,have invaluable hands-on experience.
Challenge Analysis
Based upon your specific machine and serial number, which is tracked in our customer service software, one of our engineers can view the relative engineering documentation online to identify the problem and to facilitate the resolution. We now frequently use the conferencing tool like Zoom where multiple parties view the same CNC screens during a conference call. By using this tool, we are able to conduct additional training, diagnostics or demonstrate proper operational procedures by sharing both video and audio where all parties can view the screen of the CNC control simultaneously.
Part Identification
Proper part identification frequently requires the user to interface with someone in our spare parts department. Viewing the relative spare parts documents electronically assists in the spare part identification and ordering function. They can be reached at the main number (410) 656-1632. Emails concerning spare parts can be sent to parts@ficepcorp.com.
Regionalized Field Service Support
We have also grown our field service support staff substantially in numbers and capability. Our field team has extensive CNC experience and has also participated in extensive training on Ficep equipment. To achieve more effective field service support, we have regionalized our field service support team where we have multiple techs that are dispatched from regional locations located coast to coast.
Service Contracts
To be able to maintain your CNC lines at maximum efficiency, we also offer service contracts to our users where we can provide the required staff to achieve this goal. This program can be tailored to meet the specific needs of your organization.
Additional Regional Service Support Facilities
We now are able to provide customer service phone support for 18 hours per day with the recent addition of two additional customer support offices in Montreal and Southern California.
Customer Support Now in Spanish and French
We are currently able to not only support our customer base in English but also in French, Spanish, and Italian.