PrintingNews.com

GBC, a market leader in binding and lamination, announces coverage expansion of GBC Full Circle Service. The GBC technicians not only repair GBC equipment but also service other brands of finishing equipment worldwide including collators, corner rounders, finishers, folders, joggers, laminators, paper cutters, paper drills, punches, shredders, shrink wrappers and trimmers. Business owners can now protect their print finishing equipment from the adverse effects of unexpected equipment downtime with just one phone call.

Recent articles and books on the subject of equipment maintenance note that equipment downtime can cost businesses thousands of dollars each year. Terry Wireman, in her book Developing Performance Indicators for Managing Maintenance, cited a survey which explained that the actual costs for an equipment breakdown averages 4 to 15 times the maintenance labor and materials to perform the repair.

For businesses without the protection of a comprehensive service plan, one equipment breakdown could easily equal or exceed the cost of one year’s coverage of GBC Full Circle Service. Unlimited parts, labor and travel expenses associated with repairs are covered as part of all Full Circle Service plans. This level of product protection and commitment resulted in GBC being named a best-in-class service provider by Gartner Inc. and Qualcomm Incorporated.

Full Circle Service customers with repair needs have 24-hour web access to place requests for service calls. GBC factory-trained service technicians are equipped with handheld PCs so they can view complete service histories, get technical updates, receive tips for servicing particular machines and order parts. GBC carries an inventory with over $3MM in parts to enable a 93% rate of repair completion on the first service call, subsequently reducing the need for repeat calls.

“By offering service on third-party equipment, GBC can now be the sole service provider for all or most of a customers’ finishing equipment. We have significantly reduced downtime at our customer’s locations,” says Tim Spencer, Vice President of Technical Service and Support for the GBC brand.