Modernized service strategies combine enterprise IT, ‘smart’ technology, and information.

Manufactures are expected to be more demand oriented, data driven, and technologically focused. This means focusing on the customer, using the data collected from many different areas, and digitally executing strategies using platform technologies.

Many companies today are focusing on the current stage of achieving field service excellence. This tends to be an easier, stand-alone area to focus on as it incorporates vast amounts of technology available to help and support them.

The next stage deals with moving towards connected service platforms which oftentimes involve an integration of smart, connected products. This is when companies will start to deal with how to capture data, leverage the insights, and turn it into actionable results for various stakeholders throughout the organization.

The last stage deals with achieving servitization optimization. Servitization is an important concept because it holds the potential to transform how products are delivered and monetized. This is really the movement towards product service systems and products-in-use value.

Ultimately, providing access to product and parts information is a crucial step in on the path to successful profitable growth.

Technology is fueling service transformation for many organizations.

For instance, here’s how ‘service’ has begun to transform with the help of new technologies:

• Cloud technologies have enabled greater access to service parts visibility and information.
• Mobile technology has put information in the hands of service technicians, at the right time.
• Big data analytics now capture asset and product information, enabling enhanced service quality with better first-time fix rates.
• And social technology has allowed engineers, service, and customer support to collaborate.

These cloud, mobile, social, and big data analytics technologies have enabled manufacturers to transition from systems to service, from information to innovation.

Our team is prepared to help you achieve field service excellence. Our Product Development Information Services team is experienced in the architecture, implementation and support of a technology portfolio making service excellence a reality for many of our customers.

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard the buzz about IoT (the Internet of Things).

‘Start improving the way you do business’, ‘connect with technology’, ‘responsive solutions’, ‘amazing results’.

It’s safe to say that the internet of things along with smart connected enterprises have easily become technology’s theme of the year.

Businesses everywhere have started to look at how they can make more money by inserting this “IoT” thing into their business processes.

The truth behind your success and IoT:

No matter where your journey begins with IoT, it’s essential to recognize good business models rely on technological processes, but technology on its own is not enough.

When it comes to IoT and connected business model innovations, if you don’t have a solid business case, you’re not going to have success.

A connected strategy is about business and business transformation. It’s not just about the technology, it’s about using technology as an enabler.

It’s important to realize there is no value in your IoT platform alone. The real value for you, the success of your business case, lies within your application.

The future is smart and connected. 

Whether you choose to build connected solutions into existing products, enter new markets, change your business model, or connect your manufacturing floor; you need to be ready.

Transforming the way you connect with your products, organization, and customers all starts with smart connected design and the right Internet of Things (IoT) platform. The right platform allows you to connect and scale your business.

This is exactly what our company specializes in, in fact we have even created a dedicated connect services team to design and implement custom connected strategies for any organization.

Being able to monitor a product from design into manufacturing, throughout its complete lifecycle makes it possible to improve product quality, increase production, reduce costs, and even predict failures. 

Building a smart connected strategy that works for you:

Integrating company initiatives with the Internet of Things needs a strategy, this is what we are here for.

Our connect services team works with your organization to deliver workshops, prescribe technology solutions, and create an IoT strategy that coincides with your company initiatives.

We want to help you define a strategy that makes a connection between your products and operations that already exist within your company and the smart, connected world that we live in today.

Download our white paper, Digital Twin: A Primer for Industrial Enterprises

It’s no wonder people like you are researching ways to reduce downtime. A 2016 ITIC survey found 98% of organizations said a single hour of downtime cost over $100,000. 81% of respondents said an hour of downtime cost their organization over $300,000!

Remote monitoring, remote diagnostics, and predictive analytics are helping organizations reduce downtime. They’re transforming the way companies manage and service their manufacturing operations. As Gary Wollenhaupt calls out in his article about how IoT Slashes Downtime with Predictive Maintenance; manufacturing machinery and other assets can now be connected to the industrial internet of things. Predictive maintenance will begin to replace scheduled maintenance based on mileage, time, usage, or other predictive measures.

We now have the ability to digitally peer into the inner workings of an asset to understand performance, tolerance, temperature, or any number of other factors that can be measured using sensors and device networks. When harnessed, this data is the is the answer to the question being asked by many organizations – “How do I reduce downtime and increase productivity?”

There are many tools on the market to collect the data streaming from sensors and turn it into useful information. We recommend PTC’s suite of industrial connectivity / Industrie 4.0 solutions. We’re not alone. Forrester Researched named PTC and IoT Software Platform Leader and PTC’s ThingWorx was named a leader in “IDC MarketScape: Worldwide IoT Platforms (Software Vendors) 2017 Vendor Assessment.” PTC’s integrated solution suite includes ThingWorx, Vuforia, Kepware, and others.

Our team of solution architects and technical experts can help define and implement the solution(s) you need. We want to help you begin remotely monitoring your assets, whether manufacturing or remotely deployed (products), and leverage predictive analytics to reduce downtime and save money. It may involve a custom solution set, or it could simply be PTC’s eacy-to-deply Manufacturing Apps.

EAC is here to take on as much or as little of your project as necessary. We can simply provide the software for your own team to implement. Or we can manage the entire process from installation, to implementation, to integration and front-end development.

Please contact us. We want to help you leverage technology to reduce downtime and improve your bottom line.

Here is a better description of the solutions mentioned above:

The ThingWorx platform includes compatible modules that deliver the functionality, flexibility, and agility enterprises need to implement industrial IoT apps and AR Experiences. This includes industrial connectivity, analytics, and application enablement. ThingWorx is unrivaled in its ability to help companies quickly connect data streams and publish dashboards or mashups.

Kepware is a single solution for collecting, aggregating, and providing secure access to industrial operations data. The ThingWorx Native Interface integrates the Kepware KEPServerEX with ThingWorx easily and securely. This integration lets organizations take data streams from almost any manufacturing asset and present it in a useable format. The Kepware family also offers a predictive analytics engine in addition to other Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Data Tunneling solutions.

Vuforia is PTC’s solution for creating rich augmented reality experiences for applications such as work instructions, user training / manuals, asset monitoring, and service instructions. It lets users leverage the richness of 3D and insights from IoT to deliver compelling augmented reality experiences the help improve efficiencies, build better products and enable safer, more productive workers.

It’s finally here, the next big thing-Augmented Reality (AR) AR is finally moving from ‘a neat idea’ to ‘a necessary tool.’

Like any new technology, AR has gone through its awkward teenage years; clumsy, hasn’t grown into its ears, and doesn’t quite know what it wants to do with its life. It’s no different than the likes of portable computing, the smart phone, or any other modern technological marvel. (here’s a hilarious slide show of the early life of portable computing from itworld.com)

AR is finally coming into focus for many companies. People in various roles are starting to see how AR can reduce human errors, simplify the transfer of information, and provide insight to end users and managers alike. And I’m not even going to get into the endless possibilities involving customer engagement and experience. When a technology moves from video games and parlor tricks into serious applications like technical publications, assembly instructions, maintenance and support, and plant operations…it’s arrived.

Computing power and hardware has all but caught up to the demands of AR applications. Your company should either have, or be working on a strategy to take advantage of AR. If you don’t believe me, then maybe you’ll believe the Harvard Business Review. EAC Product Development Solutions is here to support your adoption of Augmented Reality and other Internet of Things (IoT) smart connected operations and product applications. Whether you’re getting a plan together, trying to obtain buy-in from the rest of your organization, selecting the right software platform, implementing a solution, or developing ‘experiences’ (that’s what AR and IoT applications are typically called); we’re here. We have teams of experts to make sure you successfully transform the way you design, manufacture, connect to, and service your products and organization.

As the leading PTC North American partner we offer our customers all of PTC’s technology solutions: ThingWorx, Windchill, Creo, Arbortext, Vuforia, Mathcad, etc. We also have a deep knowledge of the tools, applications, and configurations. This allows us to provide first-class consulting, implementation, and support services to ensure people like you are successful. Give us a call.

Augmented Reality (AR) is a powerful tool used for design reviews, collaboration, and communicating design intent. The AR functionality built into every seat of Creo makes it easier for CAD users to share design info with colleagues, suppliers, customers, and manufacturing partners in a rich, immersive way.

First of all, why use Creo?

PTC Creo, formerly Pro/ENGINEER, is a product design software used by manufacturers for mechanical engineering, design and manufacturing. Creo supports designers from initial concept to design, simulation, and analysis. This CAD tool offers industry-leading capabilities, augmented reality (AR), and the ability to capitalize on the potential of the Internet of Things (IoT) – which enables users to produce better products, more efficiently, and at a lower cost.

Here’s a few examples of how you can benefit from the ability to rapidly create, publish, and share AR experiences directly from Creo.

Creo AR is fundamentally changing the way product stakeholders outside of engineering consume and leverage product data.

Common industry challenges and how to fix them

Share augmented reality experiences

Challenge: You need to quickly, efficiently, and safely get feedback for a design review from a supplier or vendor.

Preparing and packaging models so that people can see them for distribution and review can be a challenge. Engineers typically go through a process of saving a copy the files and keeping track of drawings, assembly, and parts with a risk of compromising intellectual property in the process.

Solution: Creo AR allows you to rapidly define and publish AR experiences that can be distributed instantly only to those who have permission to view it.

Visualize augmented reality experiences

Challenge: You’re unable to convey the size and scale of your design.

It’s difficult to visualize a design if it’s behind a computer screen or you don’t have the means to meet up and physically see the prototype. Engineers can spend a lot of time and money on creating multiple design drafts and prototyping for a short review feedback that could end up relaying to them that more changes need to be made.

Solution: Creo AR allows for immersive design data with full context and scale so that you can interact, explore, and engage with design data.

Creo AR Design Share Extension

The Creo AR Design Share extension allows you to create and manage more augmented reality experiences. The extension allows you to fully control the authoring and accessibility of your company’s AR experiences which protects your intellectual property by preventing access to critical CAD data.

The first 5 AR experiences you create within Creo are free. After that you can purchase the ‘Enterprise package’ which allows you to create 50 models, or the ‘Individual package’ which allows you to create 10 models. Purchasing one of the packages for the Creo AR Design Share extension will also give you permanent shelf life (versus 6 months free) and the administrative control to add and remove authors and viewers as well as add and delete AR experiences.

The value of augmented reality across the Enterprise

Augmented reality goes beyond the ‘cool’ factor. Organizations can make money with the value that AR brings to design, manufacture, selling, service, training, and operations. Talk to our Smart Connected Enterprise experts to learn more about augmented reality.