Long term partnership ensures optimal lifecycle management of Spark assets
Spark is New Zealand’s largest telecommunications and digital services company providing mobile, broadband, cloud, digital and entertainment services to a wide range of customers including consumers and households, small businesses, government, and large enterprises.
The team at Loop Technologies have been working with Spark (formerly Telecom) to provide repair and refurbishment services of fibre optic transmission equipment and voice switching equipment since the late 1990s.
Roger Hurst, Director at Loop Technologies met Kyla Petrie, Chapter Lead – Spares & Inventory Management at Spark back in 1999 and they have enjoyed a close working relationship since.
Loop is a major repair service provider for Spark spares and have been integral in streamlining the lifecycle management of their assets. Any equipment that Spark has in service requires a set of local spare components to replace any that become faulty. Local spares are replenished from Spark’s spares pool, and the faulty unit goes to Loop Technologies. Loop repairs the faulty Spark spares to meet original specifications and performance metrics which are then returned to the Spark spares pool that can be drawn on for future equipment failures.
Spark requires a number of assets for some of its legacy systems (such as copper landlines and the PSTN network) that are 30+ years old for which componentry cannot be purchased anymore. This provides a very real challenge to Kyla and her team, they are thankful to have the expertise of Loop on hand. Kyla says;
Kyla also praises their innovative thinking;
“They are a true kiwi ingenuity story, if you need a solution they will think outside of the box, they will figure it out, fix it or provide other options. They are also extremely proactive, when they know there is a shortage or upcoming shortage of the electronics required for repairs, they often bulk purchase and warehouse it for us. It’s great to have a supplier who is always one step ahead.”
Kyla believes that what sets Loop Technologies apart from other companies in the industry is the level of systems that they have in place, attention to detail, and tight privacy policies.
“Loop are extremely particular, and process driven, they run their repair lab in an unbelievably tight way. When I have visited, I’ve had to wear antistatic strips on my shoes to protect equipment from any electrical charges which are caused naturally through human movement. After seeing the lab and their facility you can put complete faith in them that they will take the utmost care of your equipment. The quality of their work is impeccable and they also offer a warranty on repaired items which gives us peace of mind.”
“Loop deal with some highly sensitive clients such as government agencies as well as large corporates such as us, they take confidentiality very seriously and we have a high level of trust in them.”
Loop operates a spares system which keeps track of all orders, payments and invoices – a service which has made life much easier for Kyla and her team.
“Having complete visibility over our spares stock and the status of everything saves us a lot of time and follow-up. The implementation of the online connection in recent years has certainly added value to Loops service offering and made our process of spares management much more seamless.”
To others looking to engage Loop to support their spares assets Kyla would say;
“Loop never sit on their hands, if they notice a problem they are proactive and deliver a solution quickly. I enjoy working with their team and would be happy to recommend them to others, they are positive, and communication is always easy. Over the years Roger and I have developed a very close business relationship and I often reach out to him for advice. I know that Roger and the team would provide the same level of dedication to other clients that I have experienced on my 20+ year journey with them.”
