CIMdata, Inc., the leading global PLM strategic management consulting and research firm, announces the release of a white paper focused on the impact of new and evolving PLM technologies on service lifecycle management.
Product service operations and the overall approach to service lifecycle management are undergoing significant changes. Historically, service has mostly been reactive, primarily repairing products when there is a problem or failure or providing regular maintenance operations. Products were standalone entities and service personnel used standard repair kits and static, often dated or generic paper-based, technical service manuals. Today, new technologies are enabling companies to significant change how they are delivering service and are creating new, innovative, and profitable service business models.
Companies are leveraging the advent of smart, connected products, the Internet of Things, big data and analytics, and augmented reality solutions, supported by digital twins and threads to capture, manage and utilize more information about in-service use and status of products and systems. Products, and entire systems, are now being monitored and managed remotely and, in some cases, autonomously. Service is moving from its historical reactive paradigm to being predictive and proactive. These new capabilities are improving how service is being delivered but more importantly, they are:
- Helping service organizations better meet customer needs and expectations
- Reducing the cost and time for service
- Helping customers get more use from their product investments
These new technologies and the information being created and visualized are enabling manufacturing companies to create new service business models in which service rather than the product is the focus. No longer does the customer have to pay for a product, they can pay for an outcome―power, cooling, a hole in the ground, etc.―instead of buying a product and then having to perform some work to get the desired result.
Technology is changing the face of service, improving the customer use of a product or system (helping satisfaction and brand loyalty), and enabling manufacturers to deliver new capabilities in a more profitable manner.
The CIMdata white paper on The Impact of Technology on Service is available on https://www.cimdata.com/en/resources/complimentary-reports-research/white-papers.