WMF Professional Coffee Machines has launched the WMF Coffee Excellence Centre, with the support and training completing its package of full-service solutions.
Martin Billmann, WMF trainer, Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) Coffee Diploma holder, and authorised SCA trainer; is the main point of contact for all questions relating to the world of coffee. As well as being responsible for in-house training – using modern blended learning concepts – and support for sales teams and technical staff, a key part of his remit includes the sustainable optimisation and continuous development of coffee concepts for WMF customers, which involves not only reinventing existing recipes and changing raw materials but also creating new products.
WMF says the training provision Billmann delivers to its employees and partners focuses on a very specific range of topics: “what do we mean by ‘premium-quality coffee’ and where are the international standards?”, “What are the determining factors beyond technology?”
The main aim is to maximise awareness of coffee-based end products, their taste profiles and their sensory descriptions – from the look to the taste and smell, and even how the products feel in the mouth. The transfer of this knowledge will empower WMF service technicians, for example, to adapt machines so that they can dispense the very latest on-trend beverages and variations of drinks. Ultimately, the service strategy of this manufacturer is to help customers all over the world achieve maximum success with their coffee machines throughout their entire service lives.
The WMF Coffee Excellence Centre works closely with the company’s internal product management and product development teams. Main topics include the development of new drink recipes plus analysing and assessing various machine specifications, including the sensory impact of varying the size of the holes in the WMF espresso portafilter. Additionally, Billmann supports in questions about international beverage standards and how these are delivered and differentiated by WMF coffee machines.
Alongside conventional training sessions, digital courses are also becoming increasingly relevant. As part of an innovative blended learning concept, Billmann is delivering the extensive training content via e-learning seminars and webinars – which means that the coffee expertise courses – titled “From plant to roasted coffee”, “Extraction” and “Milk, water and coffee beverages” – can take place on a regular basis despite the ongoing coronavirus restrictions. This makes it easy for employees of WMF Professional Coffee Machines as well as its subsidiaries and partner organisations to expand their coffee expertise at any time – whether they are in the office or working from home.
In the future, the company intends to extend the range of digital courses and open them up to major customers as well. Nevertheless, in-person events will continue to play a key role for the Coffee Excellence Centre – given that coffee is something that needs to be experienced with all the senses, there is ultimately no substitute for direct, face-to-face dialogue. As a major brand ambassador, Billmann naturally also supports the marketing and sales team at all key trade fairs and events. His active sharing of machine-based coffee expertise is crucial to the effective delivery of support to customers and buyers alike.
When it comes to customer projects, the scope of the Coffee Excellence Centre very much focuses on business development.
“We help our customers to develop and grow their business models. For example, we supported a multinational chain of petrol stations in creating new drinks recipes dispensed using our machines and we developed new drinks which were exclusive to this customer,” says Billmann.
The triad of quality, performance, and coffee expertise ultimately makes good on a promise to customers which has been a source of inspiration to WMF’s engineers from the very beginning: seamless premium products and services made in Germany.
“No other letters are more intrinsically linked with the values of German engineering than WMF. We are taking our commitment to delivering machine excellence to the next level by adding a portfolio of support services based on fundamental principles that are firmly anchored in the WMF philosophy: knowledge of coffee as an end product that excites the senses combined with the art of coffee brewing,” says Renaud Gey, Vice President Strategic Marketing & Product Management GBU Professional Coffee Machines at the WMF Group.