Brink’s engineers take over full maintenance of Netherlands ATMs

Brink’s Dutch engineers successfully take over full maintenance of 1,700 ATMs for Netherlands ATM pooling company.

THE CLIENT

A large ATM pooling company in the Netherlands manages 85% of all ATMs and self-service cash devices in the country. Their ATMs can be found in major cities, shopping centers, outside-in facades, and inside supermarkets and bookshops.

THE SITUATION

Since 2014, the Brink’s Dutch team has been responsible for first- and second-line maintenance (FLM and SLM) on two thirds of this pooling company’s fleet of one OEM – 1,700 ATMs. Brink’s previously outsourced most of the second-line maintenance activities to the incumbent suppliers (OEMs), although Brink’s engineers have also been performing second-line maintenance on approximately 600 cash-out lobby devices since 2016.

THE SOLUTION

Brink’s Netherlands started providing the ATM pooling company with full first- and second-line maintenance in-house, with Brink’s engineers working on all 1,700 devices from January 2024.

The Brink’s and TestLink teams worked together to achieve a seamless implementation within a challenging timeframe. Typical implementation timelines are between three and six months, but thanks to the collaborative and efficient work of everyone involved, this implementation was achieved in just six weeks, during the already busy festive season.

TestLink’s support comprised of four main elements, all developed to fuel the improvement of ATM network uptime:

• Inventory of Quality Spare Parts – TestLink designed a full ‘seed stock’ of 549 modules specifically for the pooling company’s ATM estate, optimized to achieve the ideal balance between minimizing the quantity of parts required, and therefore reducing costs, while maximizing the availability of spare parts. This initial inventory is sustained with a robust repair loop, with all parts undergoing an intensive remanufacturing process. In addition to repairing the failed component, TestLink performs preventative measures to extend the average lifespan of parts.
• Field Engineer Van Kits – TestLink developed a kit, comprising 26,149 components across a team of 40 Brink’s engineers. These kits equip the engineers with the tools and materials needed to increase the number of first-time fixes.
• Comprehensive Training – A training course was designed and delivered, using the train-the-trainer format to maximize its long-term impact. TestLink’s training methodology went beyond outlining ATM functionality, diagnosing common faults and replacing modules, with trainees learning how to use their van kits to perform field fixes. The Brink’s team reported that the TestLink training was much more effective and useful than the training they received from the incumbent OEM.
• Standard Operating Procedures – Created and implemented to support the effective ongoing handling and tracking of all inventory and materials, documented with the associated process diagrams.

GREAT RESULTS

During the first week of January, the Brink’s team, headed up by the Secure Engineering Manager, Richard van Eijndt, resolved over 150 second-line maintenance incidents within the pooling company’s Service Level Agreements.

The number of incidents that were unresolved, due to a large backlog created by the incumbent, dropped from 78 ATMs down to only 14, resulting in a 2% uptime improvement for the entire estate.

In the Netherlands, Brink’s maintains five types of NCR machines. For ATM devices that have both a withdrawal and deposit function, the availability improved by almost 7%, an impressive result bearing in mind these ATMs are more challenging to fix and maintain.

Brink’s engineers also resolved a backlog of 300 condition-based maintenance call outs within eight weeks, averaging 40 call outs per week. Condition-based maintenance work is performed when measured parameters of machine faults reach unacceptable levels.

The pooling company is delighted with the fast and efficient resolution of any ATM maintenance issues. The support provided by the TestLink staff has been great and the new maintenance service provided by Brink’s gives their customers peace of mind that their ATMs will always be fully operational.

Bas Rodenberg, Brink’s Managing Director for the Netherlands, said,

“We ensure that all our Brink’s engineers are fully trained and are committed to continuous improvement, providing proactive maintenance support for the entire ATM estate.” 

 

FUTURE PLANS

Such is their confidence in Brink’s services that the pooling company will be adding a further 900 ATMs to Brink’s maintenance contract later this year. All 2,600 ATM devices, from one OEM, will be fully maintained by Brink’s engineers.

Historically, the pooling company had been monitoring their own devices, but later this year, Brink’s will also be taking over their monitoring services, reflecting their peace of mind in the experience, expertise and outsourcing capabilities of Brink’s.

Richard van Eijndt, Manager for Secure Engineering, Brink’s Solutions Netherlands, also commented,

“Brink’s is all about KPIs and SLAs. Combined with the skills and knowledge of our engineering team, partnering with TestLink, our objective is customer satisfaction. If we say we’ll fix a machine in four hours, we commit to it. We have a skilled and enthusiastic team, all working towards the common goal of keeping our customers happy.”