HERMAN - Slovak brand of world-class quality

The history of Herman Slovakia Production s.r.o. began 30 years ago. However, its focus was completely different from what we know today. In 1992, in modest premises, the company started by selling electrotechnical components, which were in short supply on the market at the time. But relatively quickly, already the following year, it began dealing with the supply of technologies and materials for construction and engineering companies, expanding its portfolio to include fastening, joining, and anchoring technology, assembly accessories, as well as diamond cutting and drilling sets. Later, construction chemicals and abrasive tools for cutting and grinding, primarily for metallic materials, were added. Power tools were introduced to the company's product program in 1994, and two years later, two models of cordless tools appeared in the portfolio for the first time. Power and cordless tools remain one of the company's pillars today.

From the very beginning, the company's goal has been professional quality of goods and services, and maximum customer care. In 1996 and 1999, the company received the Ministry of Economy award for quality, and in 1996, the company obtained a quality certificate according to the international ISO 9001 standard, awarded by the Swiss Association for Quality and Management Systems (SQS) and the Slovak Association for Quality and Management Systems (SKQS). To this day, an audit of all internal company processes according to the relevant standard takes place annually.

In the beginning, the company operated only on the Slovak market, where it quickly gained a good reputation and a significant market share. Subsequently, it expanded into the Czech, Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian markets. Currently, it is also opening markets in Germany and Austria. Throughout the entire period, tens of thousands of tools have been sold on the Slovak market alone.

The current range of tools and instruments is narrower compared to the competition, but on the other hand, much clearer. It covers almost the entire scope of work in the construction and engineering sectors, while technical and design changes to individual models occur only very sporadically. The emphasis is on reliability: there is no need to change what is already good.

New tool models are included in the delivery program only after a thorough assessment of their features and technical parameters, followed by long-term testing in extreme conditions.

Currently, Herman supplies the following types of tools:

Power tools:

• angle grinders for all commonly used tool diameters
• electropneumatic hammers of various outputs, with SDS-plus, SDS-max tool holders, up to high-performance demolition hammers with a 30mm hex tool holder
• other power tools, such as the traditional impact drill and electric mixer

Cordless tools:

• screwdrivers in various power ranges
• impact wrenches
• angle grinders, circular, reciprocating and jigsaws, electropneumatic hammers, blowers, and more

Although the cordless program has existed on the market for several decades, it has only significantly pushed to the forefront in recent years. This is due to the increasingly better properties and capacity of batteries, which currently allow cordless tools to be used even in the professional sphere, with all the comfort that cordless tools offer.

Furthermore, battery compatibility between individual tool types allows the customer to purchase tools in the "Baretool" version (the tool itself without accessories) and thus save a significant amount of money.

Customer service only begins with the sale of the tool

Hand tools, especially those intended for professionals, are often used in demanding conditions, and naturally, individual parts of the tool wear out, subsequently leading to malfunctions and the need for service intervention.

Hand tool service is one of the company's strongest points and has significantly contributed to its success among the competition, which is extremely strong and aggressive in this market segment.

On the Slovak market, there is no competitor offering the customer a level of comfort comparable to what Herman provides in the event of a necessary service intervention.

After reporting the need for a service intervention, either via an electronic form or by telephone, Herman arranges for the faulty tool to be picked up by a courier and transported to its own service center at its own expense.

In the case of warranty service, the principle applies that a tool delivered to the service department must be repaired and sent back to the customer at Herman's expense as early as the next business day.

In the case of post-warranty service, the situation is only complicated by one thing: after identifying the fault and calculating the repair price, it is necessary to consult with the customer on whether they agree to the repair under the given conditions. If they do, then just as with warranty service, the repaired tool is sent to them the next business day. If the customer evaluates the tool repair as non-profitable, they automatically receive the option to purchase any tool from the delivery program as a replacement at a significant discount. Customers also enjoy and frequently use this option.

During any warranty or post-warranty repair or preventive inspection, a free revision according to the EN (STN) 331600 standard is performed, and a revision report is issued.

The service department constantly has more than 5,000 different types of spare parts in stock for all models of tools sold, including tools whose sale was discontinued less than ten years ago.

All service interventions are recorded and statistically evaluated in detail. These data are, among other things, very important input for the development and design department, and based on them, after careful consideration, changes are made to the construction of the tools, leading to improvements in problematic parts. This feedback and close cooperation with the development department are particularly important in identifying problematic areas, especially in new tool models.

In addition, service statistics provide valuable information for the service department itself, helping to better manage spare parts logistics and forecast future service interventions.

Depending on the nature of the fault (especially in the case of a repeated fault), the service department can, for example, warn the customer that the tool is being used contrary to the recommended principles. Typically, in many cases, this involves overloading the tool, resulting in faults in the motor windings, which are financially demanding, especially in post-warranty services. If the customer follows the recommended working procedures, they can often avoid these costly repairs and the tool will serve them to their full satisfaction for a long time.

There are even touching cases when a tool sold 15 years ago arrives at the service center, which the current service technicians don't even remember, and the customer writes in the accompanying letter that they are sorry that the tool, which accompanied them and helped them for a large part of their life and literally "grew to their heart," has reached the end of its life, and that they would be very happy if it could be repaired so they could continue working with it. Of course, even in these cases, if at all possible, the service department accommodates the customer to the maximum extent. This is how "friendships" for a lifetime are formed...

Service intervals vary quite significantly across different tool groups. Faults occur much more frequently in angle grinders, which are subject to extreme stress, compared to, for example, electric mixers, which service technicians almost never encounter.

Service statistics show that within 12 months from the date of sale, on average only 6 out of 100 tools sold come to the service center for the first time, which is certainly an excellent result testifying to the professional quality of Herman brand tools. It would be interesting to know how our direct competition performs on this indicator. Although we continuously test competing products, we will probably never know the exact figures.

For cheap hobby tools, this indicator is many times worse. Of course, the hobby segment is something completely different – there is a big difference in the requirements for performance and reliability of a tool for a DIYer who needs an angle grinder once a month for 20 minutes and an engineer who uses it intensively for 5 hours a day.

Unique tool records

Another exceptional service that Herman offers to customers, which is unique on the market, is that it completely relieves them of the obligation to keep records of tool purchase documents and "proving" that the tool is still under warranty.

When purchasing tools directly from the headquarters (HERMAN e-shop, HERMAN sales representative), the customer is not required to provide warranty certificates, receipts, or invoices in the event of a repair, and Herman takes over the management of records for each tool free of charge.

This service is especially appreciated by customers who have their economic agenda at their company's headquarters, but the tool breaks down on a construction site that may be hundreds of kilometers away, and delivering the necessary documents would be time-consuming. Not to mention that many people simply throw away or lose their purchase documents…

In addition to tools, Herman today offers a wide range of accessories: cutting and grinding discs (abrasive and diamond), saw blades, drill bits, chisels, and screwdriving tools. For most of these instruments, a form of marking is used, either with a unique serial number or a unique production batch, for backward identification of the product in the event of claims.

Ing. Anton Tokár

I graduated in software engineering and have been actively involved in programming for over 25 years. Currently, my main job at Herman is coordinating the team that develops our website and e-commerce solutions. In addition, I have several years of experience as a technologist in the field of abrasive tools production. I divide my free time between my hobbies, which are mainly art, motorbikes, saxophone, swimming, traveling, mariáš, chess and trading.