KOMATSU
Better Service Forms the Core of Excellent Customer Support in Indonesia
Reported by Arpad Trianataputra Axioma, PT. Komatsu Marketing & Support Indonesia


With sharp increases in world energy demand bringing the coal price to its highest level since 2003, mining companies such as those in Indonesia are moving to increase their production capacity. Customer support activities in Indonesia as well as the role of PT. Komatsu Marketing & Support Indonesia (KMSI) are therefore becoming increasingly important.

Some of the activities KMSI is focusing on are outlined below.

On-site training provided by UT Training Center
PT United Tractors Tbk: Distributor Strength

PT United Tractors Tbk (UT) is an exclusive Komatsu distributor in Indonesia, and its strength is one of the key factors in Komatsu’s success in the mining sector.

UT’s ability to serve almost all customers in Indonesia lies in its strong distribution network, which consists of 18 branches and 12 representative offices, 13 site offices, three Reman Centers (Sumatra, Kalimantan and Irian) and nine training centers located all over the country.

UT is paying special attention to the skill level of its mechanics. At the firm’s nine training centers, over 100 instructors actively conduct training throughout the year. The UT Training Center has planned a total of 1,201 training courses for 2006.

Komatsu Remanufacturing Asia’s overhaul capabilities extend to engines, power trains, hydraulic components and wheel motors.
Komatsu Remanufacturing Asia: Providing Quality Reman Components

Some 90% of the country’s large machines are centered in Kalimantan. To provide the best support to mining customers and meet demand for machine overhauls, UT and Komatsu have set up PT Komatsu Remanufacturing Asia (KRA), a joint-venture Reman facility located in Balikpapan in East Kalimantan Province.

KRA’s overhaul capabilities extend to Komatsu engines, power trains, hydraulic components and wheel motors for 730E and 830E dump trucks and will soon be expanded to include Komatsu’s largest hydraulic pump, the HPV 375, which is installed in the PC3000 hydraulic excavator.

HD785 dump truck under full maintenance contract with service meter reading of over 80,000 hours
Customized Full Maintenance Contracts

In order to provide extra support to customers, UT offers full maintenance contracts (FMC) that ensure high machine availability. This means UT can take charge of most machine maintenance, allowing customers to fully focus on reaching their production targets.

A JoiFUL follow-up meeting at the Bendili site in East Kalimantan
Joint Follow Up Log Program

The Joint Follow Up Log (JoiFUL) program is aimed at facilitating closer communication with customers. As a follow-up to JoiFUL meetings, KMSI has implemented a number of measures to ensure continued high levels of service. These activities include KEEN (Komatsu Excellent Engineer Nearby), under which engineers are dispatched to job sites; on-site JoiFUL meetings, or the Task Force Team (TFT); and the establishment of the KMSI Balikpapan Support Center for One Face Support.

KMSI Balikpapan Support Center: One Face Support

As an extension of JoiFUL initiatives, UT and KMSI have jointly set up the KMSI Balikpapan Support Center at UT’s Balikpapan branch. Through this office, all Komatsu machines and activities are coordinated under one roof, allowing One Face Support. This means customers can directly address various technical and other issues through a single entry point, which in turn enables UT and KMSI to more efficiently and quickly respond and maintain the necessary level of support to mining customers.

Task Force Team (TFT)

As part of the ongoing JoiFUL activities, TFT is implementing a project aimed at quickly detecting the root cause of any machine trouble. This involves assessing every aspect of machine improvement in order to reduce downtime. For this purpose, the number of Komatsu field engineers has been increased, or their duties have been reorganized, while at the same time upgrading UT and customers’ maintenance organization.

On occasion, design engineers are also called on to work with the TFT to conduct machine inspections and provide troubleshooting support to UT job site teams.

These continuous efforts by the Komatsu TFT have contributed to increasing machine availability.

VHMS for Condition Monitoring Support and Demand Forecasting

The Vehicle Health Monitoring System (VHMS) is a sophisticated and highly useful system developed by Komatsu to monitor machine conditions. The system incorporates the server-based WebCARE program and can also be used to estimate optimal times for component overhauls. This contributes to reducing customers’ operating costs.

In addition to drawing on WebCARE to efficiently monitor the extensive number of machines employing VHMS, KMSI has developed its own software. The VHMS Bagus LT program enables UT to take immediate preventative action in the field.

One of KMSI’s many resulting success stories with VHMS involved a D475 bulldozer that VHMS data showed to be overheating, suggesting an engine-cooling problem. Using the data, KMSI could see that although the front side of the radiator was clean, the back, which is difficult to check through regular maintenance inspections, was clogged. Using VHMS, a fatal machine breakdown was avoided.

Well-stocked parts at KMSI’s Balikpapan Parts Depot Center
KMSI Balikpapan Parts Depot Center

With the number of machines in use projected to grow, demand for parts will also show a dramatic increase. With this in mind, KMSI opened the Balikpapan Parts Depot Center located along the Kalimantan coastline in April 2006 to back up UT’s parts supply services and further improve customer supply routes. Another objective of the center is to provide better support to the unceasing activities of coal mining operations throughout Kalimantan. These operations never sleep and continue 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Making full use of its Distribution Requirement Planning system, KMSI has emerged as a pioneer in regard to forecasting future demand for mining equipment and continually strives to accomplish the ultimate goal of “No Machine-Down in Mining.”