We’ve all seen or heard the motto, ‘People first, technology second.’ And while it’s true that without data scientists you can’t have big data, it’s also true that your data will not turn into oil if the only tools your analytics team can work with is excel.
So, in a world where technology plays an increasingly important role, let’s look at the top four technologies that service leaders in the industrial sector are looking to invest in within the next 12 months, according to Copperberg’s Aftermarket Benchmark Survey 2019.
FOUR - Artificial Intelligence
AI is the overhyped term of the year. So let’s be a little more specific and focus on the fact that service leaders will invest in machine learning (If you want to learn more about machine learning, I highly recommend Steve Nouri’s ebook Machine Learning for Everyone). As Steve explains, “The only goal of machine learning is to predict results based on incoming data That’s it. All ML tasks can be represented this way, or it’s not an ML problem from the beginning.”
And that’s exactly what service leaders are looking for, as they move along their service transformation journey. How to collect a huge and relevant amount of data from all the machines they’ve sold or leased (installed base) so they can detect patterns and move towards predicting machine failures, before they happen as well as crunching all that data, all of which requires machine learning.
THREE: Augmented/Virtual Reality
Many technologies are stagnating because of the expensive investment required or lack of true breakthrough beyond the promise, 3D Printing, for example. However, this is not the case with AR/VR. It already works and it’s not expensive and is in fact getting cheaper, with the gaming industry its biggest conduit. (Much has been said about the gaming industry being a trendsetter when it comes to technology).
There are still a few issues: the weight of some of the devices; connectivity in (5G can’t come soon enough), physical security in some sectors especially with the immersive VR but the opportunities are limitless.
One area which is not talked about, where AR/VR could be very beneficial for manufacturers is talent management. Over 60% of service leaders already experience a lack of skilled labor, according to the Aftermarket Benchmark Survey. A perception like that in the film Minority Report seems to be a better recruitment branding material than a truck, thick manual and a toolbox.
TWO: Ecommerce Platform
Ecommerce, within the B2B sector, is nothing new. According to our B2B Ecommerce Report, 70% of manufacturers have had an online sales presence for more than two years. What’s changing is that customers themselves are more and more willing to purchase online.
As the approach becomes more widespread, there is a greater need to ensure manufacturers provide a B2C experience (let’s not kid ourselves) akin to that of Amazon.
Optimized product searches, simplified checkouts, more varied payment options (webhallen.se, an online electronics retailer, allows you to pay with bitcoin, for example) area few areas where manufacturers can really develop. But for an ecommerce project to succeed, manufacturers should really look to invest in (Personal Information Management) PIM systems to ensure products are correctly categorized.
ONE: Remote Diagnostics
Remote Diagnostics, by a long shot will be the number one investment for technology manufacturers over the next 12 months. Despite the fact that it’s been talked-up at conferences for years, not all new products are being “connected”.
There is a significant part of any manufacturer’s installed base whose products have not been retrofitted. That means moving up the ladder of service transformation, towards a level where a manufacturer can use machine learning and augmented reality to detect patterns, predict failures and guide customers from an ops control room, is not yet fully possible, because collecting the vast amount of data required is not systematically happening.
Retrofitting already sold equipment incurs a cost, a product recall/replacement, or forcing new models to customers will incur even higher expense. So a full transition to a completely connected installed base might take a while but the vast majority of manufacturers understand that it is their holy grail and almost all are moving in that direction.
Conclusion
There are many technologies out there. The list above is a top four of the top techs invested by service leaders as a whole. Please check out the report when it comes out, where we’ll also highlight which technologies service leaders will invest in the most depending on which type of model they currently use today: Reactive, planned, proactive and predictive.
It’s also worth pointing out that beyond the new technologies themselves like AR or MLg, being able to integrate them to company-wide (and sometimes quite old) IT infrastructures can pose a challenge in itself.
So, if we do stick to, ‘People first, technology second’, fair enough. But then I’d say it’s a very close second, so close that we had to use VAR to call it!
Field Service News is published by 1927 Media Ltd, an independent publisher whose sole focus is on the field service sector. As such our entire resources are focused on helping drive the field service sector forwards and aiming to best serve our industry through honest, incisive and innovative media coverage of the global field service sector.
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