Classified services

For several months now, ZVEI and various industrial corporations, representing the "Automation" trade association, have promoted a comprehensive classification of services. As member of the respective committees, ABB has actively contributed in drawing up a classification and will group and apply services accordingly.

Services accompanying products and systems for automation projects are gaining more and more importance. These services include engineering, commissioning, maintenance and repair, evolution and migration in particular but also consultancy, training or life-cycle services. Based on jointly oriented projects in other European countries, such as France, Italy and Great Britain, the ZVEI circle of experts has elaborated a clearly structured and standardized terminology plus the corresponding definitions.

Ultimately, services are nothing else but products, whose features must be used by both supplier and customer for detailed cost / benefit evaluation. The ZVEI initiative improves both transparency and comparability of the services offered. The initiative's implementation velocity may vary depending on the diversity of products and the complexity. A few companies in the marketplace have already classified their services according to the newly structured system.

In a tender situation, a project order is usually placed according to technical specifications and price. With the purchase of a product or a system, the customer makes a decision over the subsequent technical support, that may span over 20 and more years. During such a period of time, product and system requirements will drastically change. It is thus indispensable for the system operator to receive all the support necessary from the service provider to be able to continuously adjust and modernize the system specifications. The new classification provides assistance and makes services comparable.

On demand, ABB generally can offer its customers services in all classes. With the decision to purchase products and systems from ABB, the customer can choose the services he wants either as part of the basic package or later along with the life cycle of the equipment. Which services the customer really needs must be assessed case by case and included into the cost calculation. Due to "brochure liability", reputable companies will be careful to offer all-inclusive packages, anyway. Far away customer sites can make service expenditures completely uneconomical. All-inclusive promises eventually only lead to misunderstandings on both sides.

ABB profits from this initiative by pointing out the added value by a transparent service offer. Only few companies like ABB are capable to offer comprehensive services over all phases of the product / system life cycle. The new classifications can be incorporated in quotations, and, if agreed upon, considered in the price calculations.

Generally, services of all classes can be purchased individually and do not need to be acquired as a package. When introduction of the classification system has been completed, the customers will be able to better differentiate between the various services: comparable services - comparable prices!