Delivering Critical Field Service for Additive Manufacturing

Collaboration between the IT and the Services organizations to address data management and security all while innovating new approaches is critical to maximize uptime on the manufacturing floor, and attain expected ROI on capital equipment investments.

Artificial Intelligence Driving Servitization

With a growing breadth of capabilities, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rising in importance in Services. AI technology aids Service teams by leveraging their global knowledge to make better decisions faster. A requirement for effective use of AI is access to all global services data sources. These may be in customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), IoT, Knowledge Management or other systems. By connecting these data sources, AI tools can create information and knowledge at a faster rate than just leveraging people. This allows the technical experts to start working at the knowledge level instead of the data level; leading to much quicker decisions about the solutions and future improvements.

A simple, valuable example is as basic as having user maintenance completed properly. If a user forgets to clean the air filter on their 3D printer – which impacts system cooling – the system is able to notify Service that the internal temperature is fluctuating and, for a short period, went out of range. Service then proactively contacts the customer and mitigate the issue before it results in costly down-time. Historically without this connected system the support team would only hear from the customer when they see a warning message or have an undesired output or part failure. The ability to have a sensor read information, be processed and compared to what is expected, send an alert over internet that triggers a case in the CRM system, and is resolved in minutes, is all enabled by an underlying IT infrastructure supporting the customer-focused value-add solution.

Merging the two technology solutions above to enable predictive services is the game-changer. When the data and intelligence come together in advanced learning structures the tools will be able to predict when something will happen allowing Service teams to get ahead of any issue before the customer is ever impacted by it. The result is improved system uptime which enables more efficient production which helps manufacturers deliver products on time to meet customer expectations.

Without IT, Services cannot mature to what it can truly be nor what customers are demanding. Thus the true partnership from these teams will move companies forward, enabling a strong competitive advantage.