Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Machine Advisor Maximizes the Value of Data for OEMs
May 4, 2018
Amid rapid digitization of manufacturing, machine builders (OEMs) need to provide a better service to improve their customers’ agility and market responsiveness. Schneider Electric, the leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, today presents EcoStruxure Machine Advisor, a platform that allows OEMs to Track, Monitor and Fix machines remotely, and pass significant benefits to operators.
Real-time operational awareness is a competitive advantage Driven by rapid adoption of connectivity, mobility, cloud computing and big data analytics, digitization in manufacturing has huge potential. According to a 2015 McKinsey survey, by 2025 digitization will reduce time to market by 20%-25%, optimize expertise by 45%-55%, and reduce machine downtime by up to 50%.
In this ultra-competitive environment, OEMs need solutions that will improve the connectivity of their machines, giving them real-time operational awareness, and access to their machines in order to optimize their operational efficiency while developing new business opportunities, for example in their services business. These benefits need to be passed on to operators, while guaranteeing safety and data security. Maximizing the value of data with EcoStruxure Machine Advisor Building on its deep expertise in the OEMs segment, Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure™ Machine Advisor offers new levels of efficiencies and growth by turning data into key insights for machine builders.
“With EcoStruxure Machine Advisor, OEMs gain real-time remote access to their machines, allowing them to add and modify new services to each installed machine at any production site worldwide,” explains Ali Haj-Fraj, Machine Solutions Senior Vice President at Schneider Electric. EcoStruxure Machine Advisor provides a fully connected framework for reliable machine operation through three key functionalities:
• Track: OEMs can visualize the location of all their machines, with real-time access to documentation and history, such as bill of materials, manuals, maintenance logs and task management schedules.
• Monitor: The cloud-based software allows OEMs to collect and visualize machine data in real time, giving a comprehensive analysis of Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), widgets for performance against key KPIs and other trends, and dashboards to monitor machine availability and output quality.
• Fix: A service enabled by a mobile app to facilitate maintenance and operations with contextual information, the help of step-by-step procedures and remote expertise by leveraging augmented reality. Furthermore, Fix provides remote access to the engineering software in the cloud enabling service technicians to use “Software-as-a-Service” to always have the right version and libraries by hand. While these functionalities allow OEMs to improve customer satisfaction and innovate with new service offers, EcoStruxure Machine Advisor also gives immediate benefits to operators by leveraging the EcoStruxure Augmented Operator Advisor app.
EcoStruxure Augmented Operator Advisor puts real-time information at their fingertips, whenever and wherever it is needed. The custom application improves operational efficiency with augmented reality, enabling operators to superimpose the current data and virtual objects onto a cabinet, machine, or plant. EcoStruxure Machine Advisor is part of Apps, Analytics & Services, portfolio of the Schneider Electric IoT enabled architecture: EcoStruxure Machine. EcoStruxure™ is our open, interoperable, IoT-enabled system architecture and platform.
EcoStruxure delivers enhanced value around safety, reliability, efficiency, sustainability, and connectivity for our customers. EcoStruxure leverages advancements in IoT, mobility, sensing, cloud, analytics, and cybersecurity to deliver Innovation at Every Level. This includes Connected Products, Edge Control, and Apps, Analytics & Services. EcoStruxure has been deployed in 480,000+ sites, with the support of 20,000+ system integrators and developers, connecting over 1.6 million assets under management through 40+ digital services. EcoStruxure Machine Advisor pilots EcoStruxure Machine Advisor has been piloted successfully with many OEMs in Europe and Asia.
Leadermac, a manufacturer of four-side moulders in Taiwan, wanted to implement digitized solutions to improve its service offer and pass the benefits to its clients. Leadermac is now able to execute early diagnosis and preventive maintenance of its machines, and sell better-connected, more flexible, more efficient and safer machines. “EcoStruxure Machine Advisor is the future,” said Leadermac President Michael Chang. “It helps OEMs like us provide better services, such as remote preventive maintenance, alarm monitoring, tooling usage and IoT applications.”
