From Reactive to Proactive: How Georg Sahm GmbH & Co. KG Transformed Service into a Strategic Growth Engine with Si2 Group

 

Precision Winding at the Heart of Customer Success

Georg Sahm GmbH & Co. KG, part of the €450 million Starlinger Group, is a global specialist in the design and development of winding technology for high performance fibers, carbon fibers and slit film tapes for the converting industry. With around 200 employees, SAHM serves demanding industries where quality, speed and reliability are non-negotiable.

Its winding technologies operate at extremely high speeds and process advanced materials such as silver-coated threads used in banknotes and carbon fibre strands used in protective equipment and technical textiles. In these applications, uptime is not simply a performance metric — it is a critical success factor for SAHM’s customers.

If the process runs too fast, yarns may tear. If it runs too slowly, thread quality may suffer. In both cases, customer productivity and profitability are directly affected. Moreover, high-speed production environments pose potential safety risks if failures occur, making preventive maintenance and process stability essential.

SAHM’s equipment is therefore mission-critical. The company has long been recognised for the quality and expertise of its service organisation. However, by the early 2020s, senior management was confronted with a strategic question about how the company could evolve its organisation and services to address future challenges:

  1. Could service become more than a reactive support function?
  2. Could it become a strategic driver of growth?
 

This case study is Georg Sahm service transformation story so far and provides four perspectives:

  1. The Challenges
  2. Driving Change
  3. Results
  4. Leader’s Reflections

1. The Business Challenge

Breaking Out of the Reactive Service Model

Historically, SAHM operated in a classic reactive service model:

  • Customers called when there was a problem
  • A distributed global field service organisation responded
  • Complex service problems escalated to experts in German Technical Centre.
  • Maintenance was performed on an ad hoc basis
  • Spare parts were supplied as needed

 

While operationally competent, this model had it’s limitations:

  • Field service and expert resource allocation was difficult to plan
  • Revenue from service was unpredictable
  • There were no structured maintenance contracts
  • Service propositions were not standardised
  • Opportunities for recurring revenue were largely untapped

 

Customers were increasingly requesting more sophisticated maintenance solutions — solutions that would optimise Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), minimise downtime, and reduce safety risks.

SAHM had the expertise. What it lacked was a structured, proactive service business model.

2. Driving Change

The Desired State

The leadership team defined a clear ambition:

  • Develop a structured Service Level Agreement (SLA) portfolio
  • Introduce proactive service sales processes
  • Create recurring revenue streams
  • Improve resource planning and delivery consistency
  • Strengthen service’s role as a strategic growth driver

 

This required more than new products. It required:

  • New systems and processes
  • New roles and responsibilities
  • A shift in mindset across service, sales and management
The Catalyst: Partnering with Si2 Group

Martina Krengel, Head of Service Business Strategy at SAHM, was tasked with leading the transformation.

She quickly recognised that breaking out of the reactive mindset would require:

  • Raising awareness within senior management
  • Benchmarking against best practices in comparable companies
  • Building internal ownership rather than imposing external solutions

 

Through the VDMA Academy, she identified Harald Wassermann of Si2 Group as a potential partner. The workshop format and content aligned precisely with SAHM’s challenges.

The First Workshop: Creating the Roadmap

A cross-functional group of service, sales and management stakeholders participated in the initial workshop. The outcome was a clear, 18-month high-level roadmap built around three pillars:

  1. Development of a Service Level Agreement portfolio
  2. Implementation of a structured service sales process
  3. Launch of a service contract sales campaign

Importantly, SAHM took full ownership of the initiative. Si2’s role was not to “run the project” but to act as a catalyst — providing expertise where needed, especially in contract design and service sales enablement.

This ownership would prove to be one of the key success factors.

Designing a Modular SLA Portfolio

One of the earliest insights was that SAHM could not simply “sell maintenance.” It needed structured, clearly defined service products.

The team developed a modular Service Level Agreement architecture that:

  • Allowed customisation to customer needs
  • Ensured delivery consistency through standard work packages
  • Protected profitability through defined scope
  • Made value visible and tangible for customers

Each SLA combined standardised service modules — preventive maintenance visits, spare parts packages, remote support, performance optimisation — into configurable bundles tailored to different customer segments.

This modularity delivered three major benefits:

  1. Operational clarity– Technicians knew exactly what was included.
  2. Sales confidence– Service sales representatives understood what they were selling.
  3. Customer transparency– Clients clearly saw the value and scope of the agreement.

The SLA portfolio transformed service from a reactive response into a defined product offering.

 
Building Service Sales Capability

A proactive service model requires proactive selling.

SAHM appointed a dedicated Service Sales Representative — a former field technician and regional service manager. This choice was deliberate:

  • He understood the technical reality.
  • He had strong relationships with field service colleagues.
  • He was trusted by customers.

Field technicians were not turned into salespeople. Instead, they remained trusted advisors — identifying opportunities and feeding them into the sales process.

However, the new role required enhanced sales capability: prospect targeting, opportunity qualification, structured follow-up and closing.

Here, Si2 provided targeted sparring and coaching, drawing on years of experience in service sales across industrial organisations. The focus was pragmatic:

  • How to position SLAs around customer value
  • How to quantify risk reduction and uptime benefits
  • How to overcome price objections
  • How to move from quotation to signed contract

The coaching was not theoretical. It was applied directly to live customer opportunities.

Strengthening the “Trusted Advisor” of Service

Another insight from the transformation was the importance of communication skills within the technical service organisation.

If technicians were to act as trusted advisors rather than emergency responders, they needed to:

  • Communicate proactively
  • Identify improvement opportunities
  • Explain risk exposure
  • Position preventive actions

This required a cultural shift from “fixing problems” to “preventing problems.”

The result was a service organisation that became more confident, more customer-oriented and more commercially aware — without compromising its technical integrity.

Embedding Proactivity in Systems and Processes

To sustain the shift, SAHM integrated new processes into its existing ERP and service management systems.

Changes included:

  • SLA-based capacity planning
  • Standardised contract administration
  • Improved quotation tracking
  • Service KPIs and reporting

Capacity planning, previously reactive and unpredictable, became increasingly aligned with contracted commitments.

This shift had profound operational implications:

  • Improved resource utilisation
  • Reduced emergency travel
  • Better forecasting of spare parts demand
  • Greater revenue visibility

Service moved from volatility to controllability.

3. The Results: From Zero to Recurring Revenue

The transformation programme set a bold target:

Increase formal service contracts from zero (May 2025) to ten by Q1 2026.

The result?

  • Target achieved within the defined timeframe
  • €200,000 of additional recurring revenue generated
  • Over 25 open SLA quotations in the global pipeline

For a medium-sized mechanical engineering company, this was not just incremental improvement. It represented a structural shift in business model.

Recurring revenue improved financial predictability. Proactive maintenance strengthened customer relationships. Field service scheduling became more stable.

Service had become a growth engine.

Beyond Revenue: Organisational Impact

The measurable financial outcomes tell only part of the story.

1. Elevated Service Standing: Service gained visibility and recognition within SAHM. Employee motivation increased as teams saw tangible results from their efforts.

2. Positive Customer Feedback: Customers and representatives responded positively to the structured offerings. Transparency improved trust.

3. Active Service Marketing: Service became visible, communicable and controllable. It was no longer an invisible support function.

4. Spare Parts Integration: SLA packages included defined spare parts components, strengthening aftermarket revenue streams.

5. KPI Introduction: For the first time, service KPIs were formally introduced and tracked across the organisation, enabling performance transparency.

6. Structured Capacity Planning: Capacity planning aligned with contractual commitments — reducing stress and improving predictability.

Key Success Factors

Reflecting on the journey, several principles stand out.

  • Ownership is Critical

SAHM owned the transformation. Si2 acted as catalyst and expert advisor — but the energy, decisions and implementation came from within.

  • Focused External Expertise Accelerates Change

Rather than engaging in large-scale consulting programmes, SAHM leveraged targeted expertise — especially in SLA design and service sales capability.

This balance ensured speed without dependency.

  • Cross-Functional Alignment Matters

Service transformation touched:

    • Field service
    • Spare parts
    • Sales
    • Management

Without cross-functional buy-in, structural change would not have been possible.

  • Listen and Adapt to Customer Requirements

The modular SLA structure was built around real customer needs — uptime, safety, performance and transparency.

The company did not impose a model. It designed one that resonated.

4. A Leaders Reflection

At the SLN Summit in February 2026, Martina Krengel reflected on the journey:

“What makes me most proud is not only the contracts we have signed, but the change in mindset within SAHM. Service today has a completely different standing in our company. There is acceptance, transparency and measurable performance.

Our customers and representatives have given very positive feedback — they see that we are thinking proactively about their uptime and safety.

We have introduced KPIs, aligned our capacity planning with SLAs and launched active service marketing. The fact that we have already sold multiple SLAs and spare parts packages shows that this model works.

The key was ownership. Si2 supported us at exactly the right moments — especially in contract design and service sales development — but the responsibility stayed with us. That combination made the difference.”

The Benefit of Working with Si2 Group?

A major part of SAHM’s success came from internal responsibility. However, transformation also requires experience-based guidance.

Harald Wassermann from Si2 Group provided:

  • Proven frameworks for SLA design
  • Practical service sales coaching
  • Strategic sparring for leadership
  • Focus and discipline in execution

 

Crucially, Si2 demonstrated the maturity to provide support only where necessary — enabling SAHM to build internal capability rather than dependency.

This partnership model ensured that the 18-month roadmap was delivered on time and with sustainable results.

Conclusion: A Blueprint for Medium-Sized Mechanical Engineering Companies

SAHM’s transformation demonstrates that even mid-sized industrial companies can:

  • Move from reactive to proactive service
  • Create structured, profitable SLA portfolios
  • Build recurring revenue
  • Improve operational predictability
  • Elevate service as a strategic growth driver

The journey does not require massive organisational overhaul. It requires:

  • Clear ambition
  • Cross-functional ownership
  • Structured methodology
  • Targeted expertise

In industries where uptime, safety and performance are mission-critical, proactive service is not optional — it is a competitive advantage.

Through disciplined execution and partnership with Si2 Group, Georg Sahm GmbH & Co. KG has demonstrated how service can evolve from reactive necessity to strategic differentiator — and from cost centre to growth engine.

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Service Innovation for value-driven opportunities:

Facilitated by Professor Mairi McIntyre from the University of Warwick, the workshop explored service innovation processes that help us understand what makes our customers successful.

In particular, the Customer Value Iceberg principle goes beyond the typical Total Cost of Ownership view of the equipment world and explores how that equipment impacts the success of the business. It forces us to consider not only direct costs associated with usage of the equipment such but also indirect costs such as working capital and risks.

As an example, we looked at how MAN Truck UK used this method to develop services that went beyond the prevailing repairs, parts and maintenance to methods (through telematics and clever analytics) to monitor and improve the performance and  fuel consumption of their trucks. This approach helped grow their business by an order of magnitude over a number of years.

Mining Service Management Data to improve performance

We then took a deep dive into how Endress + Hauser have developed applications that can mine Service Management data to improve service performance:  

Thomas Fricke (Service Manager) and Enrico De Stasio (Head of Corporate Quality & Lean) facilitated a 3 hour discussion on their journey from idea to a real working application integrated into their Service processes. These were the key learning points that emerged:

Leadership

In 2018 the Senior leadership concluded that to stay competitive they needed to do far more to consolidate their global service data into a “data lake’ that could be used to improve their own service processes and bring more value to customers. As a company they had already seen the value of organising data as over the past 20 years for every new system they already had a “digital twin” which held electronically all the data for that system in an organised fashion. Initially, it was basic Bill of Material data, but has since grown in sophistication. So a good start but they needed to go further, and the leadership team committed resources to do this.

  • The first try: The project initially focused on collecting and organising data from its global service operations into a data lake.  This first phase required the development of infrastructure, processes and applications that could analyse service report data and turn it into actionable intelligence. The initial goal was to make internal processes more efficient, and so improve the customer experience. E+H looked for patterns in the reports of service engineers that could:
    • Be used to improve the performance of Service through processes and individuals
    • Be used by other groups such as engineering to improve and enhance product quality.
  • Outcome: Eventhough progress was made in many areas, nevertheless, even using advanced statistical methods, they could not extract or deliver the value they had hoped   for from the data. They needed to look at something different.
  • Leveraging AI technologies: The Endress+Hauser team knew they needed to look for patterns in large data sets. They had the knowledge that self-learning technologies that are frequently termed as AI, could potentially help solve this problem. They teamed up with a local university and created a project to develop a ‘Proof of Concept’. This helped the project gain traction as the potential of the application they had created started to emerge. It was not an easy journey and required “courage to trust the outcomes, see them fail and then learn from the process”. However after about 18 months they were able to integrate the application into their normal working processes where every day they scan the service reports from around the world in different languages to identify common patterns in product problems, or anomalies in the local service team activities. This information is fed back to the appropriate service teams for action. The application also acts as a central hub where anyone in the organisation can access and interrogate service report data to improve performance and develop new value propositions.
  • Improvement:  The project does not stop there. It is now embedded in the service operations and used as a basic tool for continuous improvement. In effect, this has shifted the whole organization to be more aware of the value of their data.

Utilizing AI in B2B services

Regarding AI, our task was to uncover some of the myths and benefits for service businesses and the first task was to agree on what we really mean by AI among the participants. It took time, but we discovered that there are really two interpretations which makes the term rather confusing. The first is a generic term used by visionaries and AI professionals to describe a world of intelligent machines and applications. Important at a social & macroeconomic level, but perhaps not so useful for business operations -at least at a practical level. The second is an umbrella term for a group of technologies that are good at finding patterns in large data sets (machine learning, neural networks, big data, computer vision), that can interface with human beings (Natural Language Processing) and that mimic human intelligence through being based on self-learning algorithms. Understanding this second definition and how these technologies can be used to overcome real business challenges is where the immediate value of AI sits for today’s businesses. It was also clear that the implication of integrating these technologies into business processes will require leaders to look at the change management challenges for their teams and customers.

To understand options for moving ahead at a practical level we first looked briefly at Husky through an interview with CIO Jean-Christophe Wiltz to CIOnet where we learned that i) real business needs should tailored drive technology implementation, and ii) that before getting to AI technologies, there is a need to build the appropriate infrastructure in terms of database and data collection, and, most importantly, the need to be prepared to continually adapt this infrastructure as the business needs change.