Gorenje service network model wins the CCIS Silver Medal for innovation

Gorenje has been providing in-house maintenance and repair service for its customers for several decades. More precisely, development of the service network dates back to 1962, only 12 years after the company was founded and four years after production of the first home appliances had been launched. Last year, the model of service network organization and operations was fully revised to make service lead time shorter, which is essential for the users.

Revision of the service network model is based on a novel concept of work employed by 70 highly trained service technicians. Central coordination leads to equal waiting periods across the country. Service technicians were promoted from mere task executors to co-organizers of their own work as they manage their own schedules of customer visits and receive payment based on how much work was actually done. Introduction of a single call centre in Velenje where all complaints are received from Monday to Saturday at a single telephone number, as opposed to previous system comprising several addresses of nine different service units across Slovenia, and upgraded spare part logistics system, have led to considerably shorter lead times from error report to repair at the customer's location. As all Gorenje service units are constantly supplied with the most commonly used spare parts, as much as 20 percent of all repairs can actually be done in the same day when the call centre receives and processes the claim. All other spare parts ordered by the service technicians from the Velenje central warehouse by 4 PM each day, are available the next morning.

Revised service network model, including development of IT support solutions, is a result of Gorenje's in-house development and years of experience in offering after sales service both in Slovenia and abroad. 

Milan Meža, Head of Gorenje Service: "Gorenje's revised service network model is unique in the home appliance industry. Silver Medal for Innovation attests to the model's high level of innovation and numerous commendations by customers benefiting from our field work, as well as positive response measured by surveys in which over 90 percent of our customers rate the work of our service technicians very positively, are proof of its efficiency. We will try to roll out the model to other countries in order to offer our customers and users of our products the highest level of quality in terms of after sales service as well."