Wherever a maritime asset is in the world, it’s never far from one of Wärtsilä’s centres of service excellence. Our network of global workshops helps to ensure asset reliability and trouble-free operations for vessels of all kinds
through world-class preventive and reactive maintenance services delivered by a vast team of experienced professionals.
The numbers tell a story in themselves – with close to 3,000 service professionals across 70 countries, Wärtsilä’s network of global workshops provides our customers with access to expert engineering knowledge and certified maintenance
and repair services wherever their assets may be.
“Our global workshop footprint covers all the major geographical areas and supports customers with the full range of services including repairs, reconditioning, spare parts and
exchange parts,” explains Andrea Bochicchio, Director, Global Workshops. “These services cover our entire engine portfolio, and we can also support customers with non-Wärtsilä engines and components too,” he continues.
“We provide peace of mind for customers by working hard to develop a deep understanding of their business operations and needs and then providing world-class services to support them. Customers can focus on their core business while we take care of their preventive and reactive maintenance needs, minimising downtime and ensuring continued asset viability.
- Andrea Bochicchio, Director, Global Workshops
While the majority of the work performed at Wärtsilä’s workshops relates to its 4-stroke engine products, there are centres of excellence for specific areas such as propulsion systems, specific component types such as turbochargers and specific processes such as parts reconditioning. “By concentrating specific competences in certain locations we can better plan our investments to secure the exceptionally high level of quality and consistency that we are known for as an OEM,” Bochicchio continues.
In order to improve the quality and efficiency of its services, Wärtsilä regularly brings together representatives from regional and global workshops that service assets from both the marine and energy sectors to share best practices. “In this way we can accelerate our competences across the board and keep a consistent pace of innovation as well as identify common approaches in terms of tools, working processes and safety,” says Bochicchio. “Learning lessons from each other is a key part of delivering the best-quality services in a consistent way. Another important factor is digitalisation, which we are taking maximum advantage of to make our processes as lean and efficient as possible. We want to use smart digital tools more and more to provide our service technicians with all the information they need to complete a job to the highest quality in the most efficient way possible.”
A handful of Wärtsilä’s global workshops – principally in the Netherlands, China and Singapore – specialise in remanufacturing services using the best available tools and technologies. “The biggest volumes for remanufacturing
come from our 2-stroke engines, and we can restore components like cylinder heads and pistons to their original design specifications,” says Bochicchio.
He also highlights that customers who are looking to optimise their
engine assets to reduce fuel consumption and therefore emissions can also turn to Wärtsilä and its workshop network for a wide range of upgrades and modifications. “We have the capabilities to perform not only the necessary adjustments,
say changing an engine’s valve timing and turbocharger settings, but also all the required system integrations. What’s more, with the help of our extensive in-house testing services we can work with classification societies to validate
these upgrades.
Bochicchio is keen to emphasise Wärtsilä’s unique value proposition as a service provider –high-quality services delivered locally, close to the customer, backed by the experience, knowhow and R&D investment of a global organisation. “Quality and getting things right first time, every time are ingrained in the DNA of our workshop services. Our focus is on reacting quickly to customer requests and delivering high-quality services that their businesses rely on. To help us do this we are committed to continuously investing not only in new technologies like 3D printing and new tools and equipment like laser cladding welding robots, but also in the competences of our people. The pride and passion of our global workshop teams is truly something special.”
I graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering and joined Wärtsilä in 2015, first as a field service engineer for 4-stroke engines and then in global workshops as a workshop service engineer. As a field service engineer I was involved in all kinds of different projects to inspect, overhaul and repair engine assets onboard vessels of various types. After joining the global workshops team I was at the other end of the process, inspecting, dismantling and repairing or replacing components according to the customer’s requirements.
Vina Koh, Maintenance Coordinator, Wärtsilä
My experiences at Wärtsilä have been hugely valuable and fulfilling. In the field I got to work on engines in their natural environment and gained a good understanding of how all the components – like turbochargers, cylinders and pistons
– work together; in the workshop I had the chance to gain deeper knowledge of individual parts and systems and how to overhaul them. My time in the field was excellent preparation for my role as a workshop service engineer in terms of the
engineering skills I learned and the knowledge of different systems and components I built up.
In our global workshops there is a great teamwork ethic and there is always someone there to support you and to learn from. We might be seeing
the same engine types and components over and over again, but there is always something new to learn and someone more experienced to discuss ideas with because no two installations have the same operational profile. I might be working on an engine
from a dredger one day and then a cruise ship or tugboat the next. The way we work is based on trust and openness – we are never afraid to reach out and admit that we might need help to solve a problem. Our technical services team provides
us with excellent support in this way, and are a vital source of information and support for the personnel in the workshop. I get a real sense of satisfaction from successfully completing a job, and it’s a fantastic feeling when customers
take the time to send us messages about how much they appreciate our work and dedication.
Find your closest workshop: https://www.wartsila.com/addresses
Read more: https://www.wartsila.com/marine/maintain/services-and-workshops
