Sierra Wireless have looked at the many ways in which the Industrial IoT (IoT) can be used by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to network their equipment and then use this connectivity to improve their equipment’s performance, streamline their operations, launch new services and otherwise create value in ways that are impossible with non-networked equipment. Realizing these benefits, OEMs are using the Industrial IoT right now to create value in a variety of markets you might expect, including agriculture, manufacturing and transportation and logistics. The IoT is also being used in some markets you might not expect, such as with commercial washing machine OEMs beginning to bring the IoT to the laundry business.
From Planned to Preventative to Predictive Maintenance
The commercial washing machine market provides an excellent example of how OEMs are realizing the benefits of IIoT connectivity, transforming the way they and their customers do business. By integrating IoT laundry system applications into commercial washing machines, OEMs, as well as commercial laundry business owners and managers of on-site commercial laundries, now have the ability to remotely monitor, control and update these machines, yielding them significant benefits. For instance, these applications can alert them in real time if a machine is malfunctioning, enabling them to send a service technician to immediately fix the machine (or fix it remotely), increasing machine uptime. In addition, new predictive maintenance IoT applications can even enable them to analyze their machines’ data in ways that allow them to predict if and how a machine might malfunction in the future, so they can fix the machine’s problems before any downtime occurs.
Real-Time Remote Monitoring and Troubleshooting
They can also use these IIoT applications to monitor machine performance. For example, they can use them to check on their machines’ water levels and temperature as well as the length of their washing, rinsing and other cycles, to ensure their machines are operating at the levels required for thermal disinfection. In addition, by analyzing data from their machines with AI and other data analysis technologies, they can generate insights on machine performance and how customers are using their machines. Commercial laundry business owners and managers of on-site commercial laundries can use these insights to make their business processes more efficient and enhance the services they provide their customers. Meanwhile, OEMs can use these insights to improve their equipment, providing them with a competitive advantage over other commercial washing machine OEMs.
From Selling Equipment to Selling Equipment-as-a-Service
OEMs can even use the IIoT to move from selling commercial washing machines to selling Equipment-as-a-Service (EaaS). By monitoring how often their commercial washing machines are used by customers, OEMs can transition from a CapEx business model, where customers purchase machines, to an EaaS or pay-as-you-go OpEx business model, where customers pay for the use of the machines. Such business models provide OEMs with predictable, long-term service-based revenues, while allowing their customers to avoid high up-front equipment costs and more easily scale up or down their use of the OEM’s commercial washing machines as their business needs change.
How can OEMs like Girbau, Alliance Laundry Systems, Onnera Group and Dexter Laundry develop a smart, efficient plan to develop and integrate these types of IIoT applications into commercial washing machines? What key considerations should they keep in mind as they work to build, test, deploy, scale and update these applications? How can Sierra Wireless’ IIoT solutions and services – including its OctaveTM data orchestration solution, Ready-to-Connect modules, Smart SIMs and AirVantage IoT Platform – help them address the challenges that often slow or prevent rollout of these applications and fully realize the opportunities offered by the IIoT? In our next blog in this series, we will answer these and other common questions faced by commercial washing machine OEMs as they seek to realize the benefits of the IIoT and transform their businesses.
In the meantime, Start with Sierra to learn more about how Sierra Wireless’ services and solutions can allow commercial washing machine and other OEMs use the IIoT to reimagine the future.
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