Kylen Cieslak and Robert Ley Discuss the Expansion of Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Services Central in the US & EU

Shots:

Kylen Cieslak, Senior Manager, Service Marketing, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Robert Ley, Senior Strategic Product Manager, Thermo Fisher Scientific in a stirring conversation with PharmaShots
Kylen and Robert highlighted the recent expansion of Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Services Central in the United States and Europe
Services Central is an online platform intended to provide 24/7 customer support for their lab equipment and analytical instruments

Saurabh: Can you provide an overview of Thermo Fisher Scientific's Services Central and the recent services expansion in the United States and Europe? 

Kylen & Robert: The Services Central online platform was launched in September 2022 for United States-based customers, and after early success and adoption, we expanded the platform to support European customers. Services Central is intended to provide and expedite support for customers of our lab equipment and analytical instruments and is available at no cost. Customers can access service information on demand, facilitate service requests, view support history, and access operating manuals efficiently 24/7, managing all their instruments within a single convenient online platform.    

Saurabh: In regard to the online platform, Services Central, could you elaborate on the range of specific services that will now be accessible to customers? 

Kylen & Robert: Providing the best customer support, flexibility, and convenience were key considerations when designing and expanding the Services Central online platform. While it offers various services, the most fundamental feature is the ability to log service requests 24/7, 365 days a year, allowing our customers to make service requests in real time, so our technical teams can troubleshoot and find solutions faster, to minimize downtime. Customers can also view the service history for their instruments, access operating manuals, and check the status of any service requests they've made. We also provide quick access to our Consumable Selection Guides, which help streamline the ordering process for any consumables customers need. These are only a few features of many we implemented to make it more efficient and convenient for customers to manage their instruments. 

Saurabh: How will your platform, Services Central, enable customers to manage service and gain a deeper understanding of the Thermo Fisher Scientific instruments and equipment? 

Kylen & Robert: Accessing relevant instrument- or equipment-related information, service history, and contracts or warranties within a single platform is beneficial in helping our customers work more efficiently and collaboratively. Service records provide historical context that can help troubleshoot issues and offer customers information on whether to replace or repair equipment. Additionally, it's easier for customers to manage renewal and maintenance needs by having their service contract, contract entitlements, and warranty information in one place. This gives our customers' teams greater visibility into their instruments and allows them to receive personalized resources or support for each registered instrument, allowing them to make more informed decisions and precise requests. 

Saurabh: Considering the field of healthcare and scientific advancements, how do you envision your Services Central platform contributing to innovation, research, and overall advancements? 

Kylen & Robert: Services Central allows our customers, the researchers who are working daily toward scientific breakthroughs, to focus on their research with fewer service-related worries and with minimal delays. This platform helps customers improve their efficiency and productivity in research, while our attention remains on enabling and delivering the uptime needed to achieve their results. It also helps customers to streamline and balance their work, with everyone working on a single platform to manage and meet instrument requirements. Another benefit is that many labs working outside of regular operating business hours may experience service delays, but this platform allows anyone to submit service requests for our technical teams at any time and our team will respond during normal service business hours.

Saurabh: Expanding services across different regions could be challenging. What challenges did you experience while expanding services across different regions, and how did the company address them?

Kylen & Robert: We continually refine and update the Services Central online platform. Continuous process improvements have helped our first phased launch for U.S.-based customers and strengthened our infrastructure to support European customers. Awareness building is one challenge we face, as Services Central initially requires customers to take an active role in registering their instruments on the platform. We are being proactive by regularly communicating with customers to demonstrate the value and provide any help along the way.  

Saurabh: With the successful expansion of the online service platform in the US and Europe, are there plans in place to extend these services to other geographical regions?

Kylen & Robert: We have plans to expand to other geographic regions when we know that we won't sacrifice the quality of the user experience or the services provided to our customers. Our teams continue to optimize the online platform to improve the customer experience and make updates to deliver constant value and educational services to our customers. For example, in our most recent update, we added features that make it easier and more convenient for customers to receive educational resources on their instruments, quotes for service plans, on-demand services, and more to ensure they are getting the most value from their Thermo Fisher Scientific analytical instruments and lab equipment.

Image Source: Canva

About the Author

Kylen Cieslak

Kylen Cieslak is the Senior Manager, of Service Marketing, Services Connected, at Thermo Fisher Scientific, where she joined in November 2022 to oversee downstream marketing for Services Central and Digital Education. She brings many years of experience as a service marketing manager with large healthcare companies such as Hillrom and Baxter, specializing in healthcare technology applications and medical devices. Kylen received her Master of Science in Communications from Grand Valley State University in Michigan

Robert Ley

Robert Ley joined Thermo Fisher Scientific as a Senior Strategic Product Manager for Services Central. He is an industry veteran with over 30 years of experience in service, product development, and product management. Prior to Thermo Fisher Scientific, he served as a software product manager at Agilent Technologies from 2017 to 2022. His previous roles at Agilent include being the Global Product Support Manager for Automation and LC/MS products, a Product Support Engineer, and a Field Service Engineer. Prior to joining the industry, he was a research chemist at the Research Triangle Institute. Robert holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington.