By the end of 2004 the firm wants to be selling service agreements to 25% of customers buying new digitally controlled presses, and as part of the process is testing tools that it hopes will give printers more uptime.

One of these is E-Eyes, part of the TelePresence support system announced earlier this year. The remote diagnostic tool uses a webcam linked to a tablet PC or 3G phone. Customers can move around their factories and capture images of the inner workings of their presses, then send them to a technical specialist at MAN Rolands support centre. In theory, the technician should be able to identify problems and order spare parts to reach a firm at the same time as an engineer.

E-Eyes is already in use in the US and MAN Roland GB is in trials. Service director Malcolm Pendlebury hoped it would be fully operational by January.

MAN Roland now offers four levels of service agreement under the ProServ banner, ranging from Basic, which covers preventative maintenance, to Supreme, which includes performance management contracts.

Story by Gordon Carson