Partnering for Maintenance:
How EASE is Transforming
Tech Center Services
AVL Italy
nsuring the technical reliability of a complete test lab
reUYires significant inLoYse e\Tertise and mYltisYTTlier
management. Economic and technological challenges
are driving OEMs to focus on core competencies and seek
partners for facility maintenance (and even test operations).
They look for a single prime contractor to manage a wide range
of test and facility equipment, ensure technical availability, drive
standardization, and provide life cycle management.
Stellantis, leveraging its experience of partnership with a service
company in France, applied a similar model at its test centers
in Italy and Germany. AVL formed a joint venture, EASE S.r.l.
)ƾcient %daTtive 7ervice )ngineering , witL an indYstrial
maintenance company to meet these challenges combining
the strengths of both companies and offering a unique value
proposition. The joint venture began operations in July 2023,
utilizing staff from both founding companies.
EASE covers a wide range of tasks for test equipment and
utilities through three main activities:
. 1EintenEnGe QethoHoPog] is the innovative core of the
program, it includes standardization of (cross-site) processes,
implementation of predictive functionality, obsolescence
management, and design of targeted migration plans.
. 4reventive QEintenEnGe EnH GEPiFrEtion ensures systems
remain in nominal condition, by designing and executing a
maintenance program that optimizes the trade-off between
the cost impact of preventive and corrective activities. In
addition, EASE coordinates many external suppliers.
. 'orreGtive QEintenEnGe provides contingency plans for
unplanned breakdowns. This includes managing an on-
site inventory of critical parts and bespoke service level
agreements with all external parties.
The EASE partnership model represents an optimal vertical
integration of service activities (from standard maintenance
tasks to intelligent failure prediction and specialized support for
new technologies) for a wide range of equipment (from high-tech
test equipment to industrial utilities).
In 2023, the 40-person EASE team handled over 5,000 service
tickets for about 6,000 systems and managed around 200
subcontractors.
The innovative service model has been successfully implemented
in Stellantis’ European test labs and will be expanded to include
its overseas sites. This approach will soon be a cornerstone
of AVL’s global service strategy, revolutionizing maintenance
Tractices in aYtomotive and indYstrial laFs worldwide.ɸ
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