The Future of Field Service: Connected Machines and The Internet of Things

[jeremy_frank]

We may all know it by a different name -- M2M, connected devices, industrial internet, etc. -- but I think many people agree that the Internet of Things will have an impact in the field service industry. At ServiceMax, we put together a fun infographic that outlines some of the areas of field service that we think will be impacted by connected machines. For example, preventive maintenance, for example, will be powered by machines telling service organizations that they are in need of some maintenance to prevent any downtime.

Check out the infographic below with some other thoughts on the impact of the Internet of Things.

I'd love to know in the comment how your company is approaching the internet of things. Is it on your radar? Are you already implementing processes and systems? Do you think it will have a big impact?

Click the image below to see the infographic:

[percy_chow]

The power of a good infographic. If you have a good idea for an infographic, please email me. 

[snava]

M2M is on Luminex's road map.  Expect to launch our M2M solution in mid 2015.  Looking forward to using the M2M to enhance and maximize the face to face interactions.

[mike_monin]

Steve,

I'm interested to hear about your challenges implementing M2M interfaces on the equipment.  Are you building your own M2M software drivers for your equipment or are you able to purchase the software library's from a M2M software vendor?   Are you going to use local area networks at the labs which can be tricky and time consuming to setup VPN tunnels to go thru customer firewalls and working with customer IT networks folks etc. or are you going to look into low cost cellular solutions?

I have implemented M2M for the semi-conductor industry a long time ago when I was a Software Engineer before M2M was cool and they used a protocol called SECS-II (Semi-conductor Equipment Communications Standard) which was great for machine communications and we also had another layer from SECS-II to MES.  Fun stuff.

snava‌ m2m‌

[wes_connors]

Because field service is now going mobile and our smart phones are rapidly achieving increased capabilities, it's only a matter of time when there will be no other way but to do field service but with your iPhone or Android device. We have seen just in the last few years the tremendous increases in technology that have made user interface and functionalities exceptionally easy and efficient. The best way I have heard it phrased is, "when it gets to the point, where it is irresponsible" to not consider comprehensive mobile solution (ServiceMax) is just around the corner.

[jonathan_skeldi]

ServiceMax already has relationships with Axeda and Digi for M2M, and in the coming months we'll be deepening these relationships and expanding with other vendors. I'd love to hear your M2M plans to assure we have the appropriate partners to enable you.

[snava]

Mike - We will use the Axeda product for our M2M solution.  If you have any info on to integrate this into the ServiceMax process I would like to hear about it.

[mike_monin]

Steve - I'm going to ask our Product experts below if they have any info or lessons learned they can share with respect to M2M interface integrations with ServiceMax.

Rajesh, Pei, Adnan, Agni, do you have any information you can share with Steve?  They are using Axeda Connected Machine Management Applications | Axeda Machine Cloud & M2M Platform.

rajesh.rao‌ pei.wong‌adnan.samma‌agni.ananda‌ ed.yip‌  m2m‌

[john_moore]

Great topic!   I am very interested in understanding Service Max's vision and roadmap for M2M and IoT.

We are a long time Axeda (now PTC) partner.

Best regards,

John

[poorejr]

We are very interested in M2M and how it may interface with ServiceMax.  We are currently using Secomea GateManager to communicate with our field equipment.

GateManager M2M Server - Machine to Machine

[jonathan_skeldi]

I wasn't familiar with the Secomea GateManager solution. As we evaluate technologies to partner with, those already in use by our customers are certainly important for us to consider. Would you be willing to jump on a call with me, I'd like to understand what factors led to the technology decision and how this solution is working for you.

amit.jain‌ is responsible for the M2M integration to ServiceMax, from the Product Management side, and could talk more about accessing the ServiceMax API's.

[grahame]

If devices are the key i.e. having all info/data/apps in one place then aren't open APIs the critical piece of the puzzle?