A “Big Brother” you can love
No matter what the industry, excellent Customer Service is the secret to securing both repeat business and customer loyalty.
At Schweissen & Schneiden 2013 — the world’s largest trade show devoted to welding and cutting, happening this week in Essen, Germany — ABB Robotics is providing a unique look into the inner workings of our Remote Service system. While interacting with attendees my message has been clear: the goal of any customer service program is to provide customers with peace of mind, and our service team is taking Customer Service to the next level by offering customers 24/7 predictive remote monitoring. This wireless system provides direct cost reduction benefits that eliminate the need for technician dispatches.
The beauty of a remote monitoring system is that over time it can automatically identify trends and predict potential failures. When necessary, it can also notify a robot operator about any potential issues or actions that need to be taken.
Put simply, remote monitoring goes beyond the cycle of break/fix to improve customer operations.
For robot-reliant industries like manufacturing and assembly, equipment downtime is costly. If a robot goes down, operators have to get it up and running immediately or face the very real possibility of production stoppages. If a robot has to be repaired on site by the manufacturer, it can cost a whole day’s worth of production.
ABB’s Robotic Remote Service solution prevents worst case scenarios like the one I’ve described by monitoring, diagnosing and, in most cases, repairing customers’ robots anywhere in the world. The system can be run wirelessly or hard-wired to the Internet, and continually monitors customers’ robots, setting off an alarm when any robot conditions change. Once alerted, via SMS and/or email, ABB’s service support center receives complete diagnostic information via the wireless technology, analyzes the data on the Remote Service portal and a service specialist responds within minutes.
Once a potential issue is identified, our service technicians can either resolve the issue from their desktops or be dispatched to a customer location. In more than 50 percent of all cases, remote monitoring can get a robot back on line without having to send out a technician.
Early warning systems are an integral part of issue avoidance. It is why we’ve included Remote Service as part of our Robot Care service level agreement (SLA). Doing so helps us to guarantee that our robots’ performance and productivity are at their highest levels. (Included in the SLA is a site audit which establishes a baseline for how the robot is used in its working environment. These reports are cutting maintenance cost by as much as 20 percent.)
By combining remote monitoring, service assessments, and condition monitoring and prediction, ABB Robotics has entered a new era of customer service. The advent of wireless technologies has unlocked the secret to good customer service.
Rene and the Service team are demonstrating Remote Service as part of Schweissen and Schneiden 2013.