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Having given an excellent presentation in the Field Service News Digital Symposium on the application of Artificial Intelligence in service triage, Mark Hessinger, Vice President, Global Customer Service, 3D Systems Corporation spoke with Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News at length about the Aquant solution that they had implemented.

The session was designed to shine a light on the many benefits that 3D Systems Corporation realised from implementing the Aquant AI tool. However, it was also a golden opportunity to explore the potential of 3D printing in the service supply chain - which the two discussed briefly towards the latter part of the conversation.

During his presentation, Hessinger outlined that companies are beginning to move away from seeing 3D printing as a tool for prototyping and moving towards using the technology more in production as well.

Given the recent pandemic where supply chains were put under massive pressure as borders came crashing down, could it be that we'll see a further shift towards 3D printing and use of spare parts within the manufacturing sector and beyond?  

"The thing about 3D printing is that it is not just making the same things differently. It enables you to do things a lot differently..."

"Yes, with what has happened throughout 2020, and supply chains being interrupted, we do see businesses especially manufacturing sites rethinking their supply chain, how they can do things and using 3D printing is going to really be something that these companies are looking at. 

"We are starting to see that feedback already. There was one of the large UK companies just came out with 30% of their new products have to be produced through additive manufacturing.

"Also, the thing about 3D printing is that it is not just making the same things differently. It enables you to do things a lot differently. That bracket I showed [during the presentation] combined 13 parts. Fuel nozzles can be created much more efficiently because you can create geometries that you could never do in traditional manufacturing. I think we're going to have the impact from both sides. Supply chains need to rethink how they build things, and engineering needs to continue to get creative on how they make things to have better quality."

Further Reading:

• Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/tag/digital-transformation
• Read more about Artificial Intelligence @ www.fieldservicenews.com/hs-search-results?term=Artificial+intelligence
• Read more exclusive FSN news and features from the Aquant team @ www.fieldservicenews.com/hs-search-results?term=Aquant
• Connect with Mark Hessinger on LinkedIN @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhessinger/
• Find out more about Aquant's AI-powered service triage @ www.aquant.io/
• Follow Aquant on Twitter @ twitter.com/Aquant_io

In a recent presentation in the Field Service News Digital Symposium, Mark Hessinger, Vice President, Global Customer Services, 3D Systems Corporation outlined how his organisation had harnessed Artificial Intelligence within their service triage and delivery having implemented Aquant’s AI-powered tools.

It was an impressive presentation that outlined several different benefits that 3D Systems Corporation realised in just a matter of months since the implementation.

Perhaps the one critical takeaway from Hessinger’s presentation was just how many aspects of their service delivery had been touched and optimised by the Aquant AI solution.

During the presentation, Hessinger referred to benefits that included vital areas that are high on the agenda for improvement, by many if not all field service organisations. Hessinger explained how they had seen direct performance improvements in the optimisation of the service logistics chain, a significant reduction in truck rolls and an increase in perhaps the most crucial metric within service delivery – first time-fix rates.

"All those things come together, the better information you have, the better accuracy you have on resolving things..."

However, during the Q&A segment of the presentation, Hessinger was quizzed by Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News about what was the critical factor that drove 3D Systems Corporation to seek out an AI solution and engage with Aquant?

“We met with Aquant at a field service conference, and found somebody who was trying to solve the problem that we were trying to address” Hessinger had commented during the presentation – so what exactly was that problem?

Mostly, it was the result of the evolution of the 3D printing sector itself as the industry evolves from supporting prototype development to full production.

As Hessinger explains, “The key driver was after I joined 3D Systems, we had to make that shift from supporting a prototype house to a production environment. If the printers are not working in a prototyping environment, they [the client] may call today, with an expectation of us being with them in a few days. In production environment you have to be so much faster because a 3D printer not producing final parts directly impacts revenue."

“I was looking for a tool that could help us with just improving the speed and the rate of resolution. All those things come together, the better information you have, the better accuracy you have on resolving things. It just allows you to get to solve the problem faster,” Hessinger adds.

“Resolving problems quicker and more accurately was one of them was the key driver initially.”

Further Reading:

• Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/tag/digital-transformation
• Read more about Artificial Intelligence @ www.fieldservicenews.com/hs-search-results?term=Artificial+intelligence
• Read more exclusive FSN news and features from the Aquant team @ www.fieldservicenews.com/hs-search-results?term=Aquant
• Connect with Mark Hessinger on LinkedIN @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhessinger/
• Find out more about Aquant's AI-powered service triage @ www.aquant.io/
• Follow Aquant on Twitter @ twitter.com/Aquant_io