For machine builders and OEM’s planning to offer digital services to their customers, Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Machine Advisor platform could hold the answer. EcoStruxure can help track, monitor and fix field-based machines while reducing support costs.
Manufacturers are facing a rapid acceleration of challenges from both the speed of business and the growth of new digital services. Change is happening faster and impacting society and the workplace. Innovation like IIoT is making its presence felt at all levels, and successful businesses are the ones that continue to reinvent themselves.
Many of these technological innovations present clear industry business growth opportunities for machine builders. Digitalisation tools allow them to enhance their position by collecting performance data from installed machines. Cloud-based tools also simplify remote monitoring and connect machines to the cloud faster. It is this advanced connectivity that opens the door to growing revenues from support through digital services.
Developing a digital services-oriented model needs digitisation technology to work at several levels. First, by collecting performance data to build awareness of machine use in the field. This is useful when addressing production quality issues. Leveraging information allows the machine builder to improve performance.
The second is the development of predictive and preventative maintenance tools to track machine performance. Comparing machine performance against established parameters flags indications of wear or damage, advising the machine operator of a problem prevents unplanned downtime and lost production. These services are suitable for remote operations without the need for manual intervention.
Machine builders need to support their solutions in this way as the project may be too complex for local engineering. Moreover, the machine builder may lack access to end-user machine locations and operation information. Also, the end-user may struggle with tracking the history of the machines under their responsibility.
Providing this level of close support is neither time-consuming nor labour intensive. EcoStruxure Machine Advisor enables machine builders to track, check and fix remote machines. It can also reduce their support costs by 30 to 50 per cent.
Machine builders can capitalise on these established capture technologies to improve customers productivity. Thus, they create new revenue streams for their businesses without a major cost increase. Measuring machine performance offers new enhancements that result in increased productivity for users.
Developing Digital Services for OEMs
Schneider Electric‘s EcoStruxure Machine Advisor helps machine builders and OEM’s to offer digital services like:
Tracking
Providing an online repository service for machine builders and OEM’s to access documentation. This ranges from a bill of materials to maintenance logs and a full history of their machines. It also helps locate machines and identify the tasks required to perform on-site services. A log also documents all previous interactions.
Monitoring
Cloud-enabled remote access allows machine builders to view the performance data. Intuitive dashboards display KPIs and track notifications. They are simple to configure and provide time-saving GUIs to display easy ways for user interaction.
Faster problem solving
Using augmented reality tools also provides faster maintenance support at user sites. Moreover, graphical images of step-by-step procedures appear on the local technician’s hand-held tablet device. Cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) tools eases troubleshooting and fixing.
These digital services place machine builders in a strong position to add value to customers across a machine’s life cycle. They help by streamlining both machine building and manufacturing line processes. Learn how digitalised asset management tools like EcoStruxure Machine Advisor can work for you.
