Phasic Technologies: A Testament to Quality Service
12.07.2021
Location: Aston, PA
Employees: 14
Equipment: 3 Okuma machines
Finding Truth in a Company Mission Statement
“Manufacturing for a Changing World” is Phasic Technologies’s tagline, and needless to say, they expect and depend on their vendors to fully support this foundational value. Recently, the team at Phasic uncovered exactly how important quick and unwavering support is when they experienced an unfortunate machine tool failure.
This story is about a strong rebound that occurred in an extremely timely manner. A united effort that delivered the promised lead time despite what was transpiring behind the scenes – and as an added bonus, the team at Phasic now fully understands why Okuma’s mission statement is “Passionately Pursuing a Customer for Life”.
Superior Service: Turning a Double Negative into a Positive
While running a 24/7 production job, the unexpected happened – and of course, on a Saturday. The spindle of Phasic Technologies's Okuma MB-4000H experienced a rare, catastrophic failure. As any responsible shop owner would do, Michael Chouinard immediately picked up the phone and connected with his local service representative at Gosiger to explain the issue at hand and devise a plan of attack.
Understanding that a machine without a working spindle is worthless and the financial impact of downtime is a very serious matter, Shad O’Brien, Sales Manager at Gosiger, located a replacement spindle and requested it be overnighted to Phasic’s location. He and his team accompanied the spindle and began the disassembly process and installation on Monday morning.
“I was so pleased with the fire drill exhibited by the Gosiger team,” stated Mr. Chouinard. “But as the repair was going smoothly, the unthinkable happened - the heavy replacement spindle slipped and fell.”
Thankfully no one was hurt, but the damage sustained by the new spindle was beyond field repair. With the machine tool down indefinitely and the assembly parts still under a strict deadline, options and ideas begin to flow from both the Phasic and Gosiger teams.
Interjecting into the brainstorming session, Mr. Chouinard jumped in, “I’m eight hours away from Okuma’s headquarters in Charlotte. Can I head in that direction right now with this spindle in my truck?” After a verification phone call, off he went without hesitation.
Behind the Scenes: OEM-Certified Spindle Repair
At 7 AM, as he pulled into the Okuma America headquarters parking lot, Mr. Chouinard was met by a forklift and service team ready to begin the spindle repair process in NASCAR pit crew-style fashion. As he was given the red-carpet tour of the Okuma facility and viewed the latest in machine tool technology, Okuma service technicians worked diligently behind the scenes to repair the spindle.
Other than a confirmation call prior to making the trip, Mr. Choinard was not involved in the behind-the-scenes conversations or plan of action around the correction of his spindle. The Okuma and Gosiger teams took full control of the situation and relinquished the burden from their customer.
“I’m not sure what all they did to that spindle,” laughed Mr. Chouinard, “But they had me on my way back to Pennsylvania by lunch.”
On Thursday, the machine was operational and online – and most importantly, Phasic’s customer never noticed the hiccup and parts were delivered on time as promised.
Choosing Okuma Means More Than Exceptional Customer Service
During the facility tour at Okuma, contrary to the position he was finding himself in, Mr. Chouinard could not wait to bend the ear of all Okuma team members that he encountered with his thoughts and feelings about their high-quality machine tools.
“We sell Okuma machine tools for you every day!” he proclaimed. “We tell everyone our Okumas are weapons.”
He continued to stress that the three Okuma machine tools they use may have cost more upfront, but he never noticed a dip in his bank account due to the added revenue, higher precision, and jobs that continue to come through his shop’s door. He simply contributes this to the many physical characteristics Okuma machine tools possess that quickly regain a higher ROI than other brands he has used in the past.
“Why would you buy anything else? They [Okumas] are stiff, they are rigid, they are as accurate as a machine tool can get. And the OSP Controls! Nothing more powerful and easy to teach my operators on. Simply an extraordinary engineering feat,” stressed Mr. Chouinard.
Mr. Chouinard has found that over the lifetime of his machine tools and across the many OEM brands he owns and operates, Phasic’s Okuma lineup has the lowest total cost of ownership which continue to add to the company’s profitability – citing the highest uptime, the lowest downtime, and the easiest maintenance due to the thoughtfulness of overall engineering and design.
The Okuma Mission: Passionately Pursue a Customer for Life
Oftentimes, companies lose a customer during a negative experience. Instead, Okuma and Gosiger used Phasic’s negative events as a way to express their loyalty and dedication to their customer – creating a raving fan in Mr. Chouinard and the entire Phasic team.
“Not once in my life have I seen an organization pull together and support a customer the way this team did,” states Mr. Chouinard. “There’s no other machine tool builder and distributor network combination that could have pulled this off – and I think it’s because Okuma demands only the best.”
Foundational to the Okuma service oath, having parts in inventory is the first prerequisite to providing exceptional customer service. Working through a trusted distributor network allows shops to avoid costly downtime by having properly-trained boots on the ground with the required parts in hand to keep your operation running as smoothly as possible. Our teams also understand the sense of urgency machine-down situations require – as every minute, hour, or day a machine sets idle are chances to lose a customer and income.
Phasic’s experience is not unique. With our high-performance machine tools, a shop can expect to receive the same treatment – whether you own one Okuma machine or 10, a lathe or a 5-axis machining center, the level of service does not vary. Our mantra has been proven through time; we passionately pursue a customer for life.
“I did learn a valuable lesson during this fiasco, I need an additional pallet-changing fourth-axis machine tool – and you can bet it’s going to be another Okuma,” closes Mr. Chouinard.
Would you like to experience the red-carpet treatment as well? We invite you to join the Okuma family if you haven’t already. We are confident we’ll exceed your expectations in every way possible – from the machine tool performance to the level of service our distribution network provides – remember, we passionately pursue a customer for life.
Contact us today to start your journey.
