How TVH’s look-up service guarantees you the parts you need

13 December 2023

Imagine the following. You’re looking for a specific part for a particular machine and cannot find it in our online shop. Less ideal, but far from the end of your search. Because there are other ways we can help you. Your next step is reaching out to your point of contact within TVH. They will gather all the necessary information and send it to our look-up service.

What is the look-up service?

As the name suggests, the look-up service is a dedicated department within TVH that specialises in looking up parts and accessories. The department has three main activities:

Responding to customer requests, either by looking up which specific part they need or by providing technical support (e.g. explaining a fault code);
Expanding TVH’s parts range;
Further elevating the technical expertise within the company.

All three of these activities play an important role in ensuring we can provide our customers with the best possible service.

Several teams ensure the best service

Market and machine expertise

At TVH, we supply parts and accessories for all types of material handling, construction, agricultural and industrial equipment. Of course, these machines differ in fundamental ways, and specialists are essential to provide the best support for all of them. For this reason, the look-up service is divided into several specialist teams. For construction equipment, for example, there is a dedicated team for small earth-movers, one for mobile elevating work platforms and one for telehandlers. Similarly, we have separate teams for industrial machines specialised in container handling equipment, cleaning equipment, etc.

Make and model expertise

As the roots of TVH lay in material handling, it is naturally the market about which we have already accumulated the most knowledge. This is why we have several look-up teams for material handling, each specialising in a selection of makes. But this distinction is not only reserved for material handling. Within each of our dedicated look-up teams, each member has their own make(s) in which they specialise to ensure optimal knowledge.

Product expertise

Finally, we also have several in-house product specialists. These colleagues have specialised knowledge of specific (complicated) machine components, such as hydraulics, engine parts, electrical components, etc.

All around the world

In addition to the specialised divisions mentioned above, TVH’s look-up service also consists of several teams that are spread across the world. To accommodate time zones, look-up teams are based in Australia, India, the Middle East, South Africa, the UK, the US, and many other countries where TVH is active. However, the most prominent teams within our look-up service operate from TVH’s headquarters in Belgium. This is because the colleagues within those teams focus on looking up parts and strive to expand the company’s technical expertise.

How does it work?

But what happens exactly when you need assistance in finding a specific part? It all starts with submitting your request. This can be done through our online shop or directly through your sales representative by email or phone. As well as explaining what part you need, you should mention the make, model and serial number of the machine you need the part for. These machine details are always required, but additional information might also be helpful. For example, if you’re looking for a new chain for a forklift, it’s good to know more about the type of mast. Or if you need engine components for a tractor, knowing what engine the machine has can provide vital information to reduce our look-up time.

With over 55 languages available in our sales team, you are likely to be able to submit your parts request in your native language. In addition, all team members receive technical training to ensure they have a basic understanding of all the machines within our parts scope, enabling them to send a clear and complete request to the look-up service.

After your sales representative has translated your request, they enter it into the look-up service system. This system allows requests to be automatically processed according to our priority guidelines. Requests are delivered to the correct specialised look-up team in the most fitting region, meaning all requests can be dealt with as soon as possible.

When processing a request, the look-up service first checks that all received information is correct. Next, they ensure that the machine in question is one for which we supply parts. For instance, our range for small earth-movers is currently only suitable for models up to ten tonnes. Once these things are validated, the team locates the required part and researches whether we can supply it. If the answer is yes, they prepare a purchase quote to send to the requester.

Department in continuous development

As equipment becomes more complex over time, the look-up service makes every effort to keep up with the latest developments. Think of, for example, the rise of electrification and alternative fuels such as hydrogen. These innovations bring new techniques and machine components that the look-up service must be aware of.

However, the look-up service focuses on more than just new machines. Not only is the range of available equipment constantly expanding, but older machines also tend to be kept in service for a long(er) time. Therefore, the look-up service must maintain an overview of a range of equipment over a broad timeline. This is why all information is structurally collected in a digital database. This database is also needed to share the expertise between all look-up teams that are operating around the world.

TVH’s Look-up service in figures

In 2022, the look-up service processed over 2.8 million request lines.
The look-up service can assist in finding parts suitable for more than 2 500 makes of material handling, construction, agricultural and industrial equipment.
More than 250 colleagues are active within our look-up service worldwide.

About the authors

This blog post is brought to you by your construction equipment marketing team.

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