Everyone is thinking about connected product strategy these days because smart connected machines is a massive opportunity for differentiation in manufacturing industries. Every head of R&D, every head of operations, and every head of services is thinking about getting ahead of competition by rolling out connected products & services to their customers. Performance, operations & diagnostics data about things installed and operating at locations of end use promises to radically transform the service economy, and drive manufacturers toward proactive and predictive service. Eventually business models will be focused on delivering reliable outcomes to customers.
So I am excited to share with you all that today we took a big step towards making this a reality for the industry. Today we announced a strategic partnership with PTC, the visionary leader in Internet of Things solutions. PTC has been delivering the world’s first complete IoT platform, built on ThingWorx & Axeda technologies, which includes connectivity, device cloud, business logic, big data analytics and remote service applications. ServiceMax is partnering with PTC to bring to customers a seamlessly integrated suite of products that combines our leading field service management capabilities with PTC’s connected device management for remote, predictive and proactive service delivery.
Imagine this…
- A machine installed at a customer site connected with the PTC IoT cloud automatically raises an alert, and creates a work order in ServiceMax
- A remote engineer diagnoses the problem from inside ServiceMax, finds a solution and attaches a knowledge article and repair instructions to the work order before dispatching it to the nearest technician’s iPad
- A technician receives the work order on his iPad, and picks up the diagnosis from where it was left off. The technician sees real-time diagnostics and alerts history about the machine on the iPad, performs further diagnostic tests, and completes repairs on the machine following the 3D model-based service & repair instructions previously delivered to the iPad
- Once the repair is completed and machine is restored to peak performance, the technician uses a visual interactive parts catalog to complete the work order debrief fast and accurately, then bills customer accordingly.
All of this is not some vision for the future… this is here, now with ServiceMax & PTC’s integrated product suite. Our customers can realize the vision of connected field service today.
With connected field service products, service organizations will be able to capture information about their devices to prevent breakdowns, suggest upgrades when applicable, and eventually to identify patterns in service history and mechanical issues with devices to trigger preventative and predictive repairs. With visibility into machine data, and a predictive approach to service delivery, companies will ultimately be able to optimize their business model to deliver reliable outcomes to customers. Outcomes will mean more to consumers than the actual product. We envision a future where companies will sell ‘a warm room’ instead of a furnace, or ‘comfort’ instead of air conditioning, or ‘performance guarantees’ instead of 24/7 support. That is true differentiation.
ServiceMax’s vision has been to provide the modern operating system for companies to transform their service businesses. Our partnership with PTC perfectly aligns with that vision. Through this partnership, we are looking forward to making connected field service a reality for our industry.
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