Turning installed base into profits with online monitoring

After-sales service is often viewed as a competitive differentiator, a source of customer satisfaction, and often a profit generator. Successful organisations in the automation industry have a staff of engineers, technicians, mechanics or others charged with assisting customers in their maintenance and continued operation of the machinery long after the sale.

For customers, the elimination of unplanned downtime has become paramount to ongoing success. Many larger end users have invested heavily in preventive and predictive maintenance. Fortune Business Insights sees predictive maintenance experiencing a 29.6% compound growth rate through the end of 2026.

It makes good sense for you to be in the monitoring support business. There are four main reasons for a systems integrator (SI), OEM or machine builder to develop a fee-based monitoring business.

Customer intimacy

Rather than closing out the purchase of your equipment at the end of the warranty period, the relationship continues for the entire life of the machine. The support team’s involvement changes from periodic and infrequent visits to ongoing. Most customers will see your periodic reminders for routine maintenance needs, suggestions for improvement and proactive calls as a display of caring customer service. Along the way, the uptime of your machine will improve and you will have the information to prove it. Customers value productive time and while you will not be ‘competitor proof’, selling against you will be more difficult.

Machine design improvement

Normally machine design issues are filtered by those providing feedback. Your sales team, customers and service people making visits are all sources of information and all subject to their own set of prejudices. Because monitoring machine issues live removes any filter, you can determine not only the design issue but the circumstances that may lead to the issue. Armed with this information, modifications can be suggested both as retrofits in the field and in future designs. The result is a more productive machine and a competitive edge for your customer.

Competitive positioning

Remote monitoring is equal parts predictive maintenance and IIoT implementation. The growth of predictive maintenance was cited above, but the statistics of IIoT use are even more impressive. According to a survey conducted by IIoT World, “Fewer than 2% of respondents are not considering an implementation (of IIoT) within the next 12 months.” Integrators, OEMs and machine builders offering an IIoT-related offering will be perceived as technological leaders. Simply stated, if you have an offering and your competitor does not, you win.

Financial impact

Remote monitoring and related services drive a whole new revenue stream to the SI/OEM/machine builder market. Not only is this new cash flow, but it is also a predictable and smooth source of revenue. Not only will there be additional revenue from the services, but it further positions your organisation to capitalise on additional sales of machine updates, spare parts and other more traditional offerings.

Breakthroughs in technology have broken down the once costly barriers to getting into the business. More importantly, the technology is not costly, certainly not a capital expenditure at well under a thousand dollars. Most companies find they already have the right people on board to make this happen.

Remote monitoring gives you a ‘low-hanging fruit’ opportunity, with good returns achievable rapidly. Your organisation will become more competitive today, gain better access to customers and have a keener understanding of what your customers value.

*Tom Hu is the Sales & Technical Services Manager at Global M2M. He has been offering one-stop secure remote monitoring product solutions to clients all over the manufacturing, irrigation, water treatment, waste management, and building management industries.

Image: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Monster Ztudio