Industrial machinery is built to last for the long haul. It can take long hours and production runs to turn out high-quality products. Different industries, such as food, automotive, and technology, rely on these machines to run without major downtimes or failures. Some industrial machines have a lifecycle of over 20 years. These machines have become vital components in operations.
Your business thrives by selling this machinery and products to customers. Once a company contacts your business, orders your equipment, and receives it, you may not hear from them again for decades. Finding new clients allows you to build a strong customer base. Yet keeping those customers satisfied is a whole other endeavor.
In this competitive market, providing continued customer service is paramount. Predictive services are opening pathways for industrial machinery companies to provide aftermarket solutions and maintenance plans.
Predictive services for the industrial machinery industry
Predictive maintenance consists of technologies that are used to analyze equipment behavior. These technologies gather data about the equipment’s performance. The collected data is then analyzed to create a history log about work patterns as well as anomalies.
Your industrial machinery company can use this data to provide greater performance to the equipment. Technicians can provide enhanced maintenance services by identifying potential problems, then you can offer predictive maintenance to lessen the chances of equipment malfunctions. By offering predictive service contracts, you can improve machinery uptime as well as productivity.
Your industrial machinery company can also offer add-on components for enhanced equipment efficiency. Due to changing technology, legacy OEM equipment can become outpaced by newer machinery offered by competitors. Unfortunately, your customers may not have the budget to invest in brand new equipment every few years. Also, certain new equipment may not be compatible with their existing production lines.
Your predictive services can also offer aftermarket components to be retrofitted into existing machinery. Your technicians can analyze the data collected from machinery, then you can create new components designed to increase the lifecycle of equipment. Your customers can buy the retrofit components instead of brand new machinery. This solution can be a more cost-effective solution for their production processes.
IoT technologies providing data-gathering solutions
So how do you gather the data required to offer predictive service contracts, plans, and components to companies? The Internet of Things (IoT) offers a range of sensors, beacons, and analytical tools to offer predictive service solutions to customers. The IoT helps you connect machinery through cloud technology and networks to gather equipment productivity data. This data can be collected throughout the life of the machine to determine productivity trends in equipment.
A sensor can be connected or retrofitted onto the equipment’s motor, engine, or other components. There, it will collect and store data. During regular scheduled maintenance, your technician can scan a barcode connected to the sensor using a device app or handheld scanner. Your technician can then upload data information regarding the equipment’s condition and look for anomalies signifying lower productivity levels.
With this gathered data, the technician knows exactly which component in the industrial machinery is about to fail and can provide immediate maintenance services to get the equipment back up and running optimally before it malfunctions. The analyzed data can also offer important information regarding the equipment’s productivity. Your technician can make tweaks to further optimize the system to bring it to a higher efficiency level and schedule additional maintenance service visits, when necessary, as equipment nears the end of its lifecycle.
Another advantage of IoT technology involves product ordering and delivery of equipment components. When machinery runs out of certain components required during production runs or certain components are about to fail, sensors can access cloud technology and network systems. Through these computing systems, maintenance staff can be informed when certain components need to be replaced. Equipment systems can order components by filling in the right serial and model numbers into an online order form. Then maintenance workers can review the information and give permission to order the components.
IoT and predictive services increase customer satisfaction
Industrial machinery companies want customers who are pleased with their efficient machinery. Your customers also want lower maintenance costs. The Internet of Things and predictive maintenance solutions can allow you to provide enhanced services. You can improve equipment uptime and offer better maintenance service contracts. Your company can also ensure faster delivery of components.
With these predictive service solutions, your industrial machinery company can stay competitive against other manufacturers. You can increase your customer base without losing existing customers. Both your machinery and your aftermarket service contracts can make you a chosen leader in your industry market segment.
Learn how to innovate at scale by incorporating individual innovations back to the core business to drive tangible business value by reading Accelerating Digital Transformation in Industrial Machinery and Components. Explore how to bring Industry 4.0 insights into your business today by reading Industry 4.0: What’s Next?