GERMAN SERVICE TECHNICIAN WINS KYOCERA EUROPEAN SERVICE AWARD 2013
20 November 2013
This year's Kyocera European Service Award goes to a German service technician. Oliver Niklas, of SBT Schmitz Buero- & Datentechnik, prevailed against 11 finalists from other European countries, winning the hotly contested trophy for Kyocera's authorised service centre in Düsseldorf.
"I'm just so overwhelmed to be chosen Europe's best service technician. Considering my contestants were the elite of their respective countries, this is really an incredible honour for me," stated Oliver Niklas of SBT Schmitz Buero- & Datentechnik when asked about winning the Kyocera European Service Award 2013.
Excellence has its rewards
This year was the sixth time the competition took place. Altogether 1,017 technicians from Europe and South Africa registered to compete in the contest. They participated in national qualifying events, which left 12 finalists to demonstrate their skill, experience and knowledge in the premier challenge held at Kyocera's European headquarters in Meerbusch, Germany. Besides extensive product knowledge and technical understanding, the competition required participants to display their diagnostic and repair skills on Kyocera imaging equipment. Jean Szymanski of Luxemburg and France's Jonathan Hureau took second and third place, respectively. Together with Oliver Niklas, they won a trip to China and Japan, where they'll also join the national award-winners from the USA, Canada, Brazil, Mexico and Japan on a tour of Kyocera's corporate headquarters and parent production facility.
The annual service award competition is an important means of driving Kyocera Document Solutions' service quality toward even greater excellence. The reactions of their authorised service centres indicate it's very effective. For example, Oliver Niklas, this year's winner, said, "Rest assured we'll do everything in our power to take home the trophy next year, too. The Kyocera Service Award means a great deal to us. And meeting other colleagues and exchanging experiences is also very useful and exciting. Sure we're competing against each other, but we all share the same goal of service excellence." Niklas' motivation will be of good use since the qualifying rounds for the next competition are just around the corner, beginning on 1 December 2013.