The story at a glance

  • The Japanese OSG Corporation is the world's leading manufacturer of cutting tools, specializing in the production of threading, milling, and drilling tools
  • With global expansion, machine maintenance became an increasing challenge and a cost factor
  • With TeamViewer, the German production site among others — now benefits from fast servicing directly from the company’s headquarters
  • Maintenance and repair work has been shortened by an average of two hours, and expert response times for error messages and software updates have been significantly reduced
  • Routine maintenance can be completed remotely in just 30 minutes

Challenges

The OSG Corporation is the world’s leading manufacturer of cutting tools, specializing in the production of threading, milling, and drilling tools.  As the company has grown into a global business with sites all over the world, the machinery needed for production has also grown. The maintenance of this machinery became an increasing challenge for OSG and a cost factor that could not be ignored.  

OSG GmbH in Göppingen operates an important production site for the company, using machines manufactured by the company itself as well as by external, global manufacturers. 

There are therefore a number of parties involved in servicing these machines: experts from the company headquarters, experts from external machine manufacturers, and a local technical IT service provider. The latter takes care of the regular maintenance cycle of the machines at least three times a week, which used to be very time-consuming as it required an on-site visit each time. 

If there was an error message at the production site in Göppingen, an expert from one of the three parties had to be on site quickly to analyze the error and, if necessary, carry out the repair or a software update. If this required an expert to travel to the site, this always resulted in longer downtimes, which affected the production output of the machines in Göppingen and ultimately the turnover. 

The introduction of a digital solution at the company’s headquarters should therefore reduce technical service costs for all locations worldwide and shorten maintenance times and machine downtimes.

Solution 

For some time now, OSG GmbH has been benefiting from using the secure remote access solution TeamViewer. Authorized experts from the company’s headquarters in Japan as well as experts from external manufacturers can connect to the machines in Göppingen remotely. Errors can be analyzed remotely via TeamViewer and often rectified directly by making the appropriate adjustments.

OSG GmbH's regional IT service provider can also carry out regular maintenance quickly, easily, and remotely without having to be on-site every time. 

Oliver Schunter Managing Director at OSG Germany

“As soon as error messages arise, the relevant machine manufacturer can connect and provide direct support, including the adjustment of certain parameters.  With the comprehensive integration of TeamViewer, we have been able to optimize our maintenance and support processes and standardize global operating procedures, making them more efficient.”

Results

The use of TeamViewer has significantly improved the efficiency of OSG GmbH’s machine maintenance, Maintenance and repair work has been shortened by an average of two hours, and expert response times for error messages and software updates have been significantly reduced. Routine maintenance, which is carried out three times a week, can be completed remotely in just 30 minutes.

This has noticeably improved the run times and therefore the productivity of the OSG Germany machines. 

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