changes What’s driving the process industry

Total dedication

Pranabesh Das has been working as a service technician at Endress+Hauser India for more than 10 years. To help a customer, he embarked on a journey of 1,800 kilometers and 24 days of quarantine in the middle of a hard lockdown. Why? Here he tells his story.

As told to Kirsten Wörnle
Pranabesh Das Porträt

This concerned a long-term partner, an oil refinery in the northeast of India, in Assam. We have an installed base of more than 500 instruments there, and we needed to commission new radiometric level measuring devices. They are used for non-contact measurement even under extreme process conditions.

But, at that time, India had imposed a hard lockdown. Trains were at a standstill; air travel was restricted. We were only allowed to leave the house for essential supplies. It was clear to me that the plant would not continue running without our transmitters – and that only a specialized technician could commission them. So, I decided to take the risk of this 900-kilometer journey.

I boarded a flight from my hometown Kolkata to Assam. On reaching the destination, I had to quarantine myself at the airport: 10 days completely locked in a room. I started exercising in order to cope with the stress. Whenever there was internet connectivity, I tried to communicate with my family, friends and colleagues.

Service technician Pranabesh Das kept a refinery in India up and running in the midst of a lockdown.

“Customers will never forget how you made them feel!”

Pranabesh Das

After 10 days, I moved to a quarantine hotel close to my customer. Every visit to the refinery site, my temperature and oxygen saturation were measured and I had to fill in a Covid-19 declaration. Only then was I allowed to work in the plant – alone and isolated from everyone else.

I have a great passion for my job and I want to grow with the challenges arising. I finished the work in 13 days: the instruments were up and running and the customer was grateful. I flew back to Kolkata, where I had to quarantine again at the airport, this time for 14 days.

Having worked for so many years as a service technician, I know that products and prices can be copied, but you can’t imitate a strong customer service culture. Customers might forget what you said or what you did. But they will never forget how you made them feel!

Published 20.05.2021, last updated 20.06.2022.