How Sweetconnect digitises after-sales

When a packaging machine has been delivered, assembled and commissioned, the economically decisive phase of its life begins. Over many years it produces at the customer's site, requires spare parts, maintenance, documentation and rapid support. Digitally, however, the relationship between manufacturer and operator often ends far too early. Tim Hellwig, Managing Director of Sweetconnect and responsible for after-sales at Theegarten-Pactec, sums up the problem in a concise formula: “Digitally, the customer relationship often ends at the loading bay.”

This is precisely where Sweetconnect comes in. The platform organises the digital customer relationship over the entire service life of a machine - not as yet another isolated manufacturer portal, but as a shared infrastructure for the confectionery machinery industry. Involved are the shareholders Theegarten-Pactec, Sollich, Aasted as well as Winkler and Dünnebier. In addition come Chocotech as well as the partners Hänsel Processing, OKA and Proform. What is decisive is the principle: Several machine manufacturers, including competitors, use a shared digital basis.

An end to the flood of platforms

The pressure to act is clear: Machines are becoming more highly networked, customers expect digital services on demand, and differentiation is shifting into the lifecycle. The obvious reflex of many manufacturers is their own customer portal. But this creates new islands - with their own logins, interfaces, data models and service processes.

From the operators' point of view, this is not very attractive. In a production environment, there are often machines from numerous manufacturers. If every OEM operates its own portal, complexity increases, while the use of individual platforms declines. Sweetconnect therefore pursues a different approach: a platform, supported by machine manufacturers and developed from within the industry. “We want to keep the digital customer relationship in the hands of the machine manufacturers - and not lose it to third-party providers.” In doing so, Hellwig addresses a strategic core point: whoever controls digital access to the installed base also controls a significant part of the future after-sales business.

Data alone is not enough

A central problem in digital service lies in the shared state of knowledge. The machine manufacturer knows its machine, its mechanics and typical fault patterns. But it often lacks operating data because customers do not release it or machines are not connected. The operator, in turn, has data from ongoing operation, but does not always have the deep product understanding needed to derive reliable measures from it.

Sweetconnect is intended to close this gap. The platform offers a framework in which operators gain access to relevant information and OEMs can translate their machine knowledge into digital services. What is crucial here is the data architecture: separate tenants, unidirectional data flow and clear data separation. Machine data is read and visualised, but not stored centrally as a shared data pool. The know-how remains with the respective OEM.

In doing so, Sweetconnect addresses one of the most sensitive points of cooperative platform strategies: trust. Competitors can only work on the same infrastructure if their data, customer relationships and IP remain clearly separated. For operators, the benefit arises precisely from the fact that they can access information across manufacturers.

From the QR code to dynamic maintenance

The practical benefit is evident in the applications. New machines are provided with a QR code that leads directly to the specific digital asset. The customer thus gains access to up-to-date documentation, circuit diagrams and maintenance information. What used to be stored as paper documentation or PDF in various filing locations is made available on a machine-specific basis.

The next step is maintenance. Without a data connection, maintenance intervals run statically according to time. If the machine is connected, the maintenance requirement can be aligned more closely with actual usage. This transforms maintenance from a rigid plan into a more dynamic process. In future, Sweetconnect will be able not only to indicate upcoming maintenance, but also to take into account required spare and wear parts, replenishment times and order status.

This is particularly relevant for highly customised machines. Many systems have low repetition rates for spare parts, long delivery times and customer-specific variants. If the operator only notices at the maintenance appointment that a part is missing, downtime occurs. The platform is therefore intended to signal at an early stage which parts are needed and whether an order should be initiated in good time.

Aftermarket without media discontinuity

Another example is the path from a service call-out to ordering spare parts. If a technician uploads the assembly report to the platform after an assignment, it can be linked directly with spare parts suggestions. The customer receives the report, sees the recommended parts and reaches the web shop via article links. In this way, a service report becomes a continuous process through to repeat ordering.

For the machine builder, this is more than convenience. It is a matter of bringing aftermarket revenue back in-house. For the operator, the effort is reduced because information, recommendations and ordering options are brought together. Hellwig formulates the benefit in deliberately pragmatic terms: “In the end, all I want to do is sell the spare parts - and thereby earn my money or provide a good service.”

AI as assistance for service

AI is also already a topic in Sweetconnect - however, not as an end in itself. The focus is on the question of how operators can arrive more quickly at reliable proposed solutions. In many productions, personnel changes frequently, shifts speak different languages, and known errors occur repeatedly. At the same time, static guidance in operating manuals quickly becomes outdated because developers and service experts have long known better solutions.

The AI assistance is therefore intended to provide up-to-date proposed solutions for known error codes, including a documented source and required parts. Functions are also in development in which threshold exceedances or conspicuous error data are automatically analysed and summarised in short reports. For Hellwig, the decisive point does not lie in the AI framework itself, but in the OEM knowledge behind it. “It is not the AI solution in which machine builders differ. In the end, what counts is the content: How do I repair this specific packaging machine?”

From reactive to proactive

Sweetconnect thus contributes to a goal that has been discussed in mechanical engineering for years: away from reactive service, towards proactive support. Instead of only reacting after a crash, operators should recognise earlier when performance losses, recurring errors or maintenance needs are becoming apparent.

This becomes particularly valuable when machine data, OEM knowledge and service processes come together. Then the platform can not only indicate that a problem exists, but also classify what needs to be done. With high-performance machines that process thousands of products per minute, even a small cause can have major economic impacts.

According to information from the presentation, 933 customer sites and 8,311 machines have already been created on the platform. This means Sweetconnect is no longer a concept paper, but a growing installed base. It is precisely this that is the decisive lever for Hellwig: “The installed base is the next business - not just the next machine sale, but the next twenty years.”

Shared infrastructure, own added value

A common misunderstanding with shared platforms is the concern that this would make all providers interchangeable. Sweetconnect deliberately takes a different approach: The infrastructure is shared, the added value remains OEM-specific. Manufacturers can set up their own dashboard apps, key figures, service content or AI knowledge bases and differentiate themselves through them. So the platform does not standardise the offering, but lowers the barrier to entry for digital services.

For machine manufacturers, this means lower development costs, shared infrastructure and faster scaling. For operators, a more centralised access to documentation, spare parts, maintenance and support is created across several machines. The lesson from Sweetconnect is therefore clear: platform strategies do not unfold their value through as many functions as possible, but through use, trust and relevant content.

This was the Packaging Machinery Conference 2026

On 16 and 17 June, the Packaging Machinery Conference (PMC) 2026 took place in Nuremberg. Experts from the German packaging machinery industry spoke about prospects, strategies and solutions for the future. The live ticker to read afterwards.

Peter Hammer