Matching replacement or expendable parts for paper machines that have tens of thousands of technical components can often waste a lot of time, and therefore also waste money. Even if the records for the system are carefully kept, extensive research with the manufacturer is often required during the ordering process. Based on estimates, searching for the required components can take up to 30% of the time needed to prepare for maintenance work. Swiss paper manufacturer Perlen Papier has been able to reduce this effort. “Today, around 90% of all replacement part orders at Voith are filled reliably and quickly through the Voith Paper Webshop," Alain Gafner, Maintenance Manager at Perlen Papier AG, is happy to report.

Perlen Papier has personalized access to the platform. This allows the company to review all information at one glance – from the original shipment to the order history to operating instructions.

The Perlen Papier employee responsible for the ordering process can search for the necessary spare parts either via a clearly laid-out tree structure or using the order number, which can also be the internal part number issued by Perlen Papier, because this number has been stored in the system as well. "A search based on our own part number makes the order process much simpler and helps to avoid incorrect orders," Christian Stocker, Team Leader Technical Purchasing adds.

It takes just a few clicks to access prices, delivery times and availability. Thanks to order tracking the person placing the order sees when a part arrives at the plant. This allows for highly accurate scheduling of the maintenance works. Being able to see the current availability of parts also allows the Perlen team to maintain a lean spare parts inventory.

Seamless integration of the customer ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) with the webshop is also available as an option. This allows ordering processing and order execution to be implemented effectively without system interruptions.