Today we approach the Quality team, responsible for the Quality Management System (QMS) Bergner and ensure the Chain of Custody from customs to the end customer. Integrated in the Operations department, led by Hector Huerta, the team is led by José Antonio Puértolas and formed by Gemma Inglán, Tamara Alvarez, Carla-Helena Beuken (Policy SAT Specialist) and Marta Cura, responsible for Quality Compliance & Assurance.
Gemma Inglán
What type of queries or problems are the most frequent and how do you classify them in order to manage their resolution efficiently?
We mainly deal with requests for repairs, complaints about product defects, as well as queries about materials and the functioning of articles. However, our department receives all kinds of queries. We serve both stores and end customers, trying to resolve all cases as quickly as possible and responding to each one in their own language.
Currently our colleagues Carla and Tamara manage mainly the cases of stores and customers Lidl and Aldi Online, and I take care of the rest of the cases of other customers. We differentiate between the incidents to be handled by our External Technical Services in Spain or Germany and those that we can handle directly from Quality.
How is the communication with the end customer structured when an incident arises? What steps do you follow from the moment a case comes in until it is closed?
Customers contact us by sending an email to sat@bergnereurope.com or by creating a case in SalesForce (from our website, with a link or with the QR code on the packaging). Sometimes they even contact us by phone.
We identify the product to solve the queries and check if the customer's problem is under warranty or not. We manage possible repairs with our Technical Services and in case of product replacements, they are managed from Quality.
All the spare parts for repairs, replacements and sales are also managed from our department. We do a daily follow-up of the products created to identify those that may need a spare part and in communication with our colleagues in China we create the spare parts to have them available when the customer needs them. It's a great team effort.
Carla-Helena Beuken
How would you define your role within the Quality area and to what extent do you think your work directly impacts end-customer satisfaction in the DACH region?
My work in Quality focuses on the day-to-day case management of Lidl cases across Europe and Aldi, ensuring that every issue is resolved quickly and efficiently. In addition, I act as a point of contact with our external technical service, Wiegmann, with whom we maintain constant communication to coordinate actions and respond to problems as they arise.
This ongoing management also allows us to identify patterns: which items have the most incidents, if the same type of failure is repeated, etc. Thanks to this, we are alerted to possible underlying problems and thus contribute to finding preventive solutions, helping to constantly improve the quality of our products.
In parallel, I am collaborating with Gemma and the China team in the implementation of a new process focused on the creation and reception of spare parts. This project will be key to improve efficiency in SAT management and, above all, to offer a better after-sales service, which has a direct impact on the experience and satisfaction of the end customer.
What tools do you use to track cases and what quality indicators or resolution times are key to your daily control?
We are currently working on centralizing the management of all cases through Salesforce. This tool allows us a much more agile and detailed access to data: from the volume of incidents and resolution times, to the most affected items or the most common reasons.
Tamara Alvarez
In terms of volume, how many incidents or complaints do you usually receive in a month and how do you organize yourselves to respond to them effectively?
Over the last few years, the volume of incidents has grown significantly, driven by the increase in PAE sales and the growth of the company. We have gone from handling an average of 434 cases per month in 2022, 970 in 2023 and 1,400 cases in 2024, to handling 2,500 incidents / queries this April, which has meant more than 7,500 interactions with customers this month. In order to respond effectively, the SAT team coordinates, prioritizes and distributes tasks, allowing us to serve both stores and end customers in an agile manner and with a focus on service quality.
Considering the more than 900 emails received from customers such as Lidl or Aldi in just a few weeks, what kind of data do you analyze to prioritize actions and ensure adequate response times? Have you learned anything from the last year?
Although I joined only a month ago, my previous experience in Customer Service allows me to say that the key to manage high volumes is to constantly analyze indicators such as urgency, type of product, reason and age of the incident. This facilitates prioritization, especially for strategic accounts. In addition, it is essential to adapt internal processes, encourage communication between departments and be proactive to anticipate needs and reduce waiting times. I thank the team and the department head for the welcome and the professional and personal learning.
Marta Cura
From certifications to declarations, what kind of documentation is essential for a product to leave customs and be in the store?
In my daily work, I am in charge of issuing all the technical documentation for our products requested by Customs and Health in Spain, and that which may be requested by any of our partners and customers. The documentation process for a product to reach its final destination can be divided into two parts.
On the one hand, we have the technical documentation that may be required by authorities such as Health or Customs, whose purpose is to ensure that the product is safe for contact with food and that it has undergone the corresponding tests. The type of documentation required varies depending on the composition of the product, since, for example, the documentation for a stainless steel article is not the same as that for a product made of polyamide. The most common documents include the MECAS (Material in Contact with Food) declaration, the non-polyamide letter and the non-Russian steel letter. On the other hand, there is the documentation that our customers may require, the aim of which is still to ensure product safety, although in this case it is not only based on compliance with the legal framework, but also on the specific requirements of each customer. From this group, I would highlight the declaration of conformity, as it is a common requirement for all customers who wish to market the product.
However, the documentation can only be legally issued if the corresponding migration tests have been performed beforehand. Because of this, it is important to work hand in hand and coordinate with our China team as they are in charge of requesting the necessary tests from the laboratories. In recent years, the increase in sales of electronic products has increased the number of tests required, as electronic products, given their nature, require more documentation and therefore more testing.
With the legislative changes in sustainability, labeling or product safety, what new data or document formats have you recently had to incorporate into your workflows?
Our compliance and assurance activities are directly linked to the current legal framework, so any legislative change forces us to review and adapt our internal processes as well as the corresponding documentation.
An example of these changes is the case of Brexit, since after the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, all declarations related to marketed products must be adapted to the new British legal framework, which has required a complete review of the applicable documentation.
Another relevant case is the impact of the EU General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), which states that all safety tests must be issued in the name of the manufacturer, in our case, Bergner. Before the implementation of this regulation, these tests were issued in the name of our suppliers, so this change has forced us to update the tests in accordance with the new legal requirements.
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