“PartsArena meets the needs of our own service team, as well as independent engineers and those that matter most – the end users. By using PartsArena, service engineers can be confident that they have identified the right part first time, every time.”

Gary McKinnon, Customer Services Director, Alpha Heating Innovation

Company Overview

Alpha Heating Innovation is a leading manufacturer of gas and solar heating equipment. As part of the Immergas Group, Alpha is able to count on the support and experience of one of the biggest names in the European heating industry. Immergas is the leading manufacturer of combination boilers in Italy.

Alpha’s product portfolio is constantly evolving to reflect a commitment to encourage a more sustainable use of energy and a reduction in emissions that are harmful to the environment.

Business Challenge

Alpha had previously used pdf documents to display parts information. While these could be used on laptops or in printed form, there were drawbacks. Firstly, pdf documents have little or no functionality, including the ability to use ordering mechanisms, which Alpha wanted for independent engineers. Secondly, using laptops or paper manuals in the field is less practical than a Pocket PC-based solution. The result was that parts were sometimes incorrectly identified and hence customers had to wait longer to get their heating equipment fixed. Overall, Alpha wanted to be sure that their excellent product reputation was matched by a first-class service arm.

Why Alpha Chose PartsArena

Alpha needed a solution that managed their parts information across both web-based and mobile platforms. Infomill’s PartsArena was the only application that met all of their requirements. It allows web users to simply identify parts using an intuitive graphical display. This includes exploded parts and linked parts information. Meanwhile, the same information can be used on Pocket PCs by engineers in the field, also using a simple user interface. Because the same information is used in both environments, updates to the product range only have to be made and published once.

“There is no other solution that fits our requirements so well. PartsArena makes our lives easier and allows us to get on with what we do best – serving our customers.”

Gary McKinnon, Customer Services Director, Alpha Heating Innovation

End User Benefits

PartsArena has provided Alpha Heating Innovation with increased efficiency, increased customer satisfaction and increased productivity. Specific benefits have included:

• Alpha’s service engineers no longer need to refer to bulky paper manuals to identify parts. The result is that they can find the information they need more quickly and accurately.

• Independent gas heating engineers who install and repair Alpha’s equipment can now find the parts they need easily over the web and order them directly. This has meant an increase in loyalty in this market

• When service engineers repair Alpha equipment, they are now far more likely to correctly identify parts. The consequence of this is that people who need their heating equipment fixed get it done more quickly.

• Alpha’s own internal publishing is now more straightforward and less costly as a result of PartsArena’s single data set.