Past Events

With this event, ISLA brought together service and logistics experts from OEMs across diverse industries to explore current trends, key challenges, emerging opportunities, and promising solutions. It was co-organized with and hosted by Katoen Natie at one of its major sites in the heart of the Port of Antwerp-Bruges.

ISLA’s 17th Conference on Customer Service, Aftersales Management, and Spare Parts Logistics was hybrid and arranged as a face-to-face event plus global online attendance. It was packed again with industry insights, information and case studies from experienced industry speakers and leading manufacturers from across industries.

This members-only meeting will focus on how advanced digital and AI-driven solutions can be positioned as premium offerings, successfully sold, and turned into new revenue streams. It will be hosted by Körber Pharma Inspection. The company produces high-performance machines with state-of-the-art inspection technology for the most demanding requirements in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry.

NextGen Service Leaders is ISLA’s platform dedicated to managers who are younger than 40 years and enthusiastic about service and leadership. This NextGen face-to-face meeting was kindly hosted by RATIONAL, a global leader in professional cooking systems such as combi-steamers and multifunctional cooking appliances for commercial kitchens in foodservice, hospitality, and catering sectors.

At this members-only meeting on “Obsolescence Management” the participants discussed how manufacturing companies can manage the growing risks of parts, software, and supplier obsolescence. It was kindy hosted by TGW Logistics. The company is a leading global provider of automated warehouse and intralogistics solutions, serving industries such as fashion, grocery, industrial, and consumer goods.

ISLA’s 16th Conference on Customer Service, Aftersales Management, and Spare Parts Logistics was hybrid and arranged as a face-to-face event plus global online attendance. It was packed again with industry insights, information and case studies from experienced industry speakers and leading manufacturers from across industries.

NextGen Service Leaders is ISLA’s platform dedicated to managers who are younger than 40 years and enthusiastic about service and leadership. This NextGen face-to-face meeting was kindly hosted by Bühler. The Swiss company is a leading global provider of processing technologies and services for the food, feed, and advanced materials industries.

The third members-only meeting on “Artificial Intelligence in Service” was hosted by GF Machining Solutions in Meyrin in Switzerland (Canton of Geneva). The company is a world leading provider of complete solutions for precision components and tools manufacturers and the mold-making industry with more than 3,500 employees on over 50 sites worldwide.

This members-only meeting on “Artificial Intelligence in Service” was hosted by Siemens Energy. Located in 90 countries, Siemens Energy operates across the whole energy landscape. From conventional to renewable power, from grid technology to storage to electrifying complex industrial processes.

This members-only meeting was on the topic of “Artificial Intelligence in Service” and hosted by Jungheinrich. As a leading global intralogistics provider, the company has been driving the development of innovative, sustainable products and solutions for all aspects of material flow for more than 70 years.

Manufacturers can significantly enhance their service revenues and profits by unleashing the full potential of their installed base. To discuss how and identify the levers to increase aftermarket lifetime value, Caterpillar was hosting a meeting at the company’s Demonstration and Learning Center in Málaga (MDLC) in Southern Spain. Attendance was free of charge, but since the host provided insight into its product and service strategy, access was only possible for managers from companies which do not compete with Caterpillar in any of its businesses.

ISLA’s 15th Conference on Customer Service, Aftersales Management, and Spare Parts Logistics was hybrid and arranged as a face-to-face event plus global online attendance. It was packed again with industry insights, information and case studies from experienced industry speakers and leading manufacturers from across industries.

This meeting on the topic of “How best to enable the alignment and integration of local and global market support?” was members-only. It was hosted by Bystronic. Manufacturing laser cutting systems and press brakes with innovative automation, software, and service solutions, Bystronic is a globally leading technology company in sheet metal processing

This members-only meeting was on the topic of “Technical documentation and knowledge management in customer service.” The meeting was hosted by BHS Corrugated. The company is a global supplier of mechanical engineering, plant engineering, Lifecycle service and digital solutions for the complex requirements of the corrugated board industry.

This meeting on the topic of “Invoicing and accounting of purely digital services” was members-only. It was hosted by Burckhardt Compression, a leading global manufacturer of reciprocating compressors for the oil, gas, and chemical industries as well as other areas in which gases need to be compressed.

ISLA’s NextGen Service Leaders started into 2024 with a face-a-face meeting on Digital Service delivery. The event was hosted by Palfinger at its PALFINGER World in Lengau (Upper Austria). Palfinger is an international technology and mechanical engineering company and the world’s leading producer and provider of innovative crane and lifting solutions.

NextGen Service Leaders is ISLA’s platform dedicated to managers who are younger than 40 years and enthusiastic about service and leadership. This NextGen face-to-face meeting was kindly hosted by KraussMaffei Technologies, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of machines and systems for producing and processing plastics and rubber.

This members-only meeting was on the topic of “Digital Service — How to support end-to-end service processes with digital tools”? The participating OEMs shared where they are in their digital service transformation, talked about current projects and initiatives, and discussed the challenges of implementing their strategies. The meeting was kindly hosted by CLAAS at its subsidiary 365FarmNet in Berlin-Mitte.

Quantum computers can solve problems that are intractable for even the most powerful supercomputers. To learn more about the technology and potential applications, we took a closer look at Healthcare, where quantum computing is going to open up unprecedented possibilities for diagnostics, treatment, medical care and drug development. This event was for all who are interested in the next major technological revolution – from both healthcare and other industries.

ISLA’s 14th Conference on Customer Service, Aftersales Management, and Spare Parts Logistics was hybrid and arranged as a face-to-face event plus global online attendance. It was packed with industry insights, information and case studies from experienced industry speakers and leading manufacturers from across industries.

This members-only meeting was held to discuss the set-up of Sales and After-Sales Organizations that help maximize effectiveness & efficiency, drive customer centricity, and improve flexibility & resilience. It was kindly hosted by Jungheinrich at the company’s corporate headquarters in Hamburg.

Sustainability is one of the hottest topics of our time, driven by the climate debate and new legislation. So it is time for industrial manufacturers to make their service operations and offerings more sustainable. And to think about how to help their customers minimize carbon emissions and maximize equipment efficiency thoughout the entire lifecycle.

Austria is the home of world-leading manufacturers which sell high-end products globally. But cutting-egde technology is not enough anymore. An excellent customer support, added-value services, and new digital solutions are imperative, too. At this Focus Day, leading Austrian OEMs shared their journey to best-in-class service and how they leverage the service business.

This members-only meeting was held to discuss Equipment-as-a-Service and Pay-per-Use business models in different industries. It was kindly hosted by DMG MORI at its Pfronten production site in Allgäu (one of the most popular vacation destinations in Germany). In addition to the interactive and insightful discussion, a tour of the factory rounded out the day.

In the first edition of her webinar series, Professor Sabina Jeschke gave a brief and an easy-to-understand overview about Quantum Computing. This technology brings vast processing power within the next few years. But what is this power good for? With her guests, Sabina talked about where Quantum Computing can be of use as from 2025.

ISLA’s 13th Conference on Customer Service, Aftersales Management, and Spare Parts Logistics was hybrid and arranged as a face-to-face event plus global online attendance. It was packed once again with industry insights, information and case studies from experienced industry speakers and leading manufacturers from across industries.

It was an honor to have Professor Sabina Jeschke, former Member of the Management Board for Digitalization and Technology at Deutsche Bahn AG, as the keynote speaker of this webinar. She is second to none when it comes to talking about why and how AI is setting the stage for next generation service and maintenance.

Attendees learned from the German manufacturers Heidelberg and KSB how non-Chinese manufacturers can differentiate themselves through aftersales service from their domestic competitors. An overview about the business environment for international manufacturers was given by Deloitte China.

The 2021 edition of ISLA’s annual conference went online and provided three sessions of three hours, each packed with industry insights, information and case studies, addressing how to deliver an excellent service to everyone and everywhere — during the pandemic and beyond.

In a high-wage country like Switzerland, OEMs are greatly challenged by competitors catching up technologically. So, an excellent customer support, added with new digital services, is vital. At this event, leading Swiss OEMs shared their journey to best-in-class service and how they leverage the service business.

This event presented the Pay-per-Part model which TRUMPF jointly developed with Munich Re/relayr. Based on this case study, the webinar speakers discussed the issues and success factors of new service offerings that help customers shift from capex to opex while also driving the OEM’s profitability.

The first meeting of the Service Leaders Circle #3 addressed the topic of End-to-End Aftersales IT/IIoT Landscape Assessment. This topic has been already on the agenda of two other members-only groups who had fruitfull discussions on aftersales specific IT requirements.

With presentations from Siemens Healthineers and Schindler, this webinar showed what cutting-edge service innovation can be about. The case studies covered projects that have made service processes more efficient, faster, and more transparent, and created added value for the customer.

The global heads of service from leading OEMs came together remotely, to address key IT challenges along the entire service value chain, share best practices on specific applications and systems, and bring aftersales specific requirements more into the center of IT discussions.

This meeting was an opportunity to address key IT challenges along the entire service value chain, to highlight the key elements of a consistent and comprehensive aftersales IT architecture, and to share best practices on specific applications and systems.

The purpose of this members-only online meeting was to review different organizational structures in aftersales, to discuss their pros and cons, and define steps to adapt an organization model to the specific requirements in different industries. The meeting was one-time only, but supposed to kick-off subsequent bilateral talks.

With presentations from BMW, Dräger, Jungheinrich, KraussMaffei, and Monitor Deloitte, this event addressed what is key to increasing the customers’ trust in digital services and how to leverage digital technology to build reliable and transparent processes in customer service and parts logistics.

With speakers from Siemens Mobility, RATIONAL, and Deloitte, this webinar addressed principles and methodologies, business best practices and learnings from experience that can be utilized to design a supply chain as solid and protective against risks as possible.

When this virtual members-only meeting took place, the spread of COVID-19 was slowing down. Lockdowns were lifted and ristrictions eased, but the coronavirus was still holding the world in its grip. The purpose of the meeting was to dicuss how to navigate the Service & Parts Business through the pandemic and the tough economic times ahead.

With speakers from CLAAS, Heidelberg and Deloitte, this webinar was all about how to orchestrate the recovery of (service) organizations and (spare parts) supply chains from the COVID-19 pandemic. Part of agenda were also learnings from operations in China, a country that had been some weeks ahead in bringing Sars-CoV-2 under control.

With the global spread of the novel coronavirus, companies across industries were hit by the COVID-19 outbreak. The Service Leaders Circle #1 met online to share the experiences the members made during the early stages of the pandemic. As a guest speaker, the Chief Economist of a leading German bank shared his take of the economic crisis and future scenarios.

Predictive maintenance is the strategy to maintain a machine before failure, based on machine data. Hosted by ISLA’s member Crown and facilitated by case studies from Heidelberg, MAN Truck & Bus, Monitor Deloitte, Munich Re and Palfinger, participants discussed the challenges and opportunities of a connected service strategy in their industries.

Hosted by ISLA’s member Liebherr, the event brought together senior managers from after sales service and service logistics in Automotive, Construction Equipment, Energy Generation, Machinery, Rail, and other industries to discuss how to make high-performance spare parts logistics even better.

When the Service Leaders Circle #1 held its third meeting at Jungheinrich, the participants had the great opportunity to experience digital technologies in action, namely by testing a virtual reality (VR) forklift training platform and visiting the company’s highly automated Spare Parts warehouse.

The Service Leaders Circle #2 was formed during a meeting at KSB. The attending ISLA members had an interactive exchange about their projects and strategies to push Digital Service. In addition to the visit of a cutting-egde Additive Manufacturing, the group went down also to the traditional foundry.

Under the motto “Paving the way for the digital transformation“ more than 15 speakers from leading OEMs like ASML, GEA, Olympus, Siemens and Tetra Pak gave an insight into their projects and strategies to adapt to new technologies and stay ahead of the pack in terms of overall customer satisfaction. The event was ISLA’s 11th European Conference on Customer Service and Service Logistics.

Hosted by ISLA’s member Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance, professionals from across industries discussed topics in Spare Parts Logistics and Service Management with a focus on digitalization, and learned from additional case studies from Manitowoc, Siemens Mobility, and Volvo Construction Equipment.

In order to continue the exchange on Digital Service the participants of the Service Leaders Circle #1 met at ISLA’s member DMG MORI. A tour of the spare parts warehouse was part of the program, in addition to the open discussion about both successful and difficult digitization projects.

This members-only meeting took place at CLAAS to launch the discussion of “Digital Service — How to support end-to-end service processes with digital tools?“. It was the first meeting of Service Leaders Circle #1 that was founded on initiative of Bobst, CLAAS, Jungheinrich and KSB.

Hosted by ISLA’s member Manitou Group, North American senior managers and decision makers from a variety of companies discussed topics of their professional interest in Customer Service and Spare Parts Management.

While industrial 3D Printing of plastic parts has become commonplace, Additive Manufacturing using metals alloys has lagged behind. But the technology improves rapidly. Hosted by ISLA’s member Wärtsilä, the event addressed potential applications of metal Additive Manufacturing in the spare parts supply chain and the obstacles to overcome.

All aspects of an excellent and profitable service were discussed at ISLA’s 10th annual conference — with a focus an digitalization as a catalyst for new business models and seamless processes. Under the motto “Meeting the expections of B2B customers in the digital era“, the audience enjoyed a great program with presentations from AGCO, Bühler, Heidelberg, KSB, Philips, and other industry leaders.

Digitalization is a true game changer for all aftersales processes, broadening the focus of service logistics beyond inventory and transportation management. The Focus Day at Siemens Healthineers povided a forum to discuss the impact of Big Data, the Internet of Things, Augmented Reality, advanced automation, autonomous systems, 3D printing, and other (potentially disruptive) technologies on Service Supply Chains.

In the Greater Chicago Area, North American senior managers and decision makers from a variety of companies came together at DMG MORI USA to discuss topics of their professional interest in Customer Service and Spare Parts Management

Professionals in Aftersales Service and Spare Parts strive for the highest customer satisfaction and operational efficiency — more than ever in an always-connected world, where digitalization is a constant game changer. Over 100 participants came together to network, discuss, and listen to speakers from Carl Zeiss, DMG MORI, Jungheinrich, MAN Truck & Bus, Satair, Wärtislä, and more.

During a Competence Center visit at BOBST, the participants enjoyed a live demonstration of Remote Monitoring, Downtime Tracking, Remote Guidance with Connected Glasses, and other e-Services. After experiencing those solutions in action, the group delved into the matter, facilitated by additional presentations from ABB, CLAAS, and Heidelberg.

The conference promoted the networking and sharing of ideas that can inspire, help to define “best in class,” and foster improvement — most important in times with rapid change and innovation. Over 100 participants came together to network, discuss, and listen to speakers from ABB, Airbus, BOBST, CLAAS, LEMKEN, Orbotech, Siemens, Suzuki, thyssenkrupp Elevator, Valmet, Wärtislä, and more.

At the event, presentations from AGCO, CLAAS, MAN Truck & Bus, and the Volvo Group addressed concepts like Managed Dealer Inventory (MDI) and other projects to strengthen the dealer-OEM collaboration in raising the service level. The agenda was topped with a guided visit through the Parts Logistics Center of CLAAS.

The conference took place at the Kempinski Hotel Gravenbruch near Frankfurt and presented speakers from ABB, AGCO, BMW, DMG MORI, Lufthansa Technik, Oerlikon, Ottobock, Siemens and others.