New technologies for remote assistance

Giambattista Gruosso - Politecnico di Milano (Italy)

Remote assistance and monitoring of capital equipment is hardly a new concept in the automation sector.

The first experiments date back to the 1980s with the introduction of increasingly efficient and effective communication systems, but it is only recently that a truly multidisciplinary science has begun to emerge. These two technological areas are now seeing a revival thanks to the diffusion of new enabling technologies that allow particularly attractive services to be developed.

A further boost has come from the dissemination of a culture of maintenance that aims to improve the effectiveness of processes without automatically increasing costs. The situation is being further revolutionised by the diffusion of the concepts of Industry 4.0. Machines are increasingly interconnected and sensorised, a factor that helps manufacturers optimise maintenance and technical support.

Rather than having to travel out to customers' sites, engineers can access machines remotely to diagnose problems and provide assistance during installation and maintenance. In both cases customers benefit from faster response times and can make use of all the technical resources provided by the company team rather than just those of the individual service engineer. The starting point for all this is a new vision in which services are seen as a new way of creating value.

This is reflected in the international economic scenario in which capital goods manufacturers who have succeeded in combining customer support with a strong sales performance have gained a competitive advantage over those that continue to adopt traditional sales models. This reflects a transition from a business model focusing on products (which therefore determine competitiveness through improved performance, price and flexibility) to a corporate vision that places service firmly at the heart of its value proposition and generates profit margins by optimising management costs.

• Read the complete article published on Ceramic World Review 116/2016