WHITE PAPER

THE FUTURE OF MAINTENANCE

Abstract
Today, a significant amount of the world’s global GDP is being spent
on maintenance activities, especially for addressing equipment
breakdown or failure. Operational efficiency, equipment ROI and
safety considerations give rise to an industry need to ensure that the
equipment is functional and utilized to its potential. The maintenance
function is evolving from being after-the-fact, to planned, to predictive
to finally self-fixing. Emerging domains like M2M communication,
developments in operational sensor technologies, combined with
advances in information technologies including cloud-based platforms,
big data and analytics are helping unlock the unused potential of
consumer equipment by providing real-time data on performance
levels. Based on these inputs, a maintenance schedule can be outlined
which will help maintain the right parts with the right means without
losing equipment efficiency. This will mitigate unnecessary spends and
repeated failures.
 A data-based approach is taking maintenance to the next level and ‘Maintenance-as-a-Service’ will soon become the order of the
day. This approach will allow equipment to be monitored and fixed remotely with a potential functionality to even heal itself. New
business models will emerge wherein a product will be sold not at a fixed price, but rather on the basis of the throughput it can
deliver in a given time. The manufacturers will take responsibility for the equipment and ensure that you get the most out of it while
they receive an annuity and additional business based on product and service quality. Total cost of ownership will soon take center
stage as the key measure of success.

In this paper we discuss the technologies to consider, their integration and the key considerations of such an initiative.

External Document © 2018 Infosys Limited

Introduction
Loyal customers are the most sought Services will include technical support on operations.
after assets that give your business a product usage, supply of consumables
Following an approach, based on
competitive edge. Winning customer and maintenance services which form
heuristics or standard guidelines, leaves
loyalty for your product is exceptionally the most significant portion among the
behind un-used potential of parts that still
important in today’s competitive business services provided.
have an amount of useful life remaining
environment and forms the core of most
Maintenance services are critical as they and repeated maintenance service costs
business strategies. Producing classy and
directly impact operational efficiency and that could be avoided. While this is known
efficient products is not enough; they
equipment uptime. Organizations have to the industry, the absence of a reliable
should be clubbed with performance-
evolved their maintenance strategies and affordable mechanism to predict the
based services that bind customers into
from fixing broken equipment to planned condition of the equipment has prevented
a sustained relationship. These services
maintenance to following the product them from adopting condition-based
must be tightly integrated with the
vendor’s recommendations to ensure or predictive maintenance to realize
product along with a robust support
maximum uptime and efficient asset maximum value.
ecosystem to create a success story.

New products are complex and need specialized skills to maintain them
Today, equipment design leverages the comprising skills, tools, system knowledge solving core business problems, rather
latest advances in technology to meet and the desire to get into maintenance than on complex maintenance activities,
the tight quality and efficiency standards details. The maintenance of these assets would find value in a maintenance-as-
of an ever-demanding operating at optimal operational efficiency levels a-service offering. Newer technologies
environment. This challenges ordinary is an important requisite for business enable exactly such services, which may
users to acquire multidimensional success and continues to be a challenge. be managed via a product vendor or
equipment maintenance capability Users, who would prefer to focus on specialized service provider.

External Document © 2018 Infosys Limited

 Emerging technologies have a lot to offer to the maintenance industry
Cloud-based Internet of Things (IoT) process. able to detect this anomaly and point out
and analytics services to the component showing signs of wear.
A high degree of system reliability
Forewarned is forearmed in maintenance. is required for such manufacturing While this may not be an immediate
Emerging technologies like the IoT operations and the ability to predict concern under normal circumstances,
can help product manufacturers build potential faults or breakdowns will based on condition data and usage
intelligent connected products with the undoubtedly provide valuable insights pattern, chances are that after
ability to continually monitor their own which will help save on time and resources. approximately two months this may start
condition and ensure that operational By using smart sensors and on-board affecting the equipment’s efficiency and
efficiency is above the threshold for electronics that can communicate with result in higher energy consumption.
optimum performance. The need for such the manufacturer’s cloud-based analytics Four months on it could start generating
analytics will lead to the creation of built-in system, the product vendor would be vibrations that may start damaging other
or service-based offerings, which predict able to assess the working condition and components and lead to potential failure.
a dip in efficiency and perform root cause service requirements of equipment in
These kinds of insights produced by the
analysis to locate the components needing advance. Routine replacement of parts as
combined use of operational knowledge,
service or replacement. per scheduled maintenance cycles, such as
sensors, embedded electronics and
once in two years, can be avoided as long
For example, in case of a food processing analytics service, cloud based systems,
as the equipment functions at optimal
plant that operates two shifts a day, the could help unlock huge unused potential.
levels. This would result in higher uptime
only opportunity for maintenance is during In the example above, continuous
of equipment and remarkable savings in
non-working hours and holidays. A snag monitoring and timely notifications
maintenance costs.
that halts production could mean wastage generated by the system approximately
of a huge amount of in-process material, Later, say at the end of 3 years of utilization, two months ahead of time before
which occasionally, can result in further when it actually starts indicating some observing a drop in efficiency enabled
down time due to equipment cleaning variation in the current consumption extended use of the component for an
and re-starting the affected manufacturing pattern the embedded sensors would be additional year.

External Document © 2018 Infosys Limited

Additive manufacturing for product maintenance

Additive manufacturing can help produce interpreting a 3D CAD model, constructing eliminate the need for specialized skills.
parts just in time at a place where you components by continuously depositing
Hence they are a versatile and acceptable
need it. In a normal scenario, an oil material in horizontal layers and fusing
solution for several maintenance scenarios.
exploration ship that needs a component them together to build a whole part.
replaced while on a mission would have A few promising advanced additive Additive manufacturing allows production
to return to a port for repairs. But with manufacturing techniques are 3D printing, of parts on the go. Soon product
advanced manufacturing techniques, laser sintering and stereo lithography. vendors would sell 3D part specifications
the ship can produce parts on-board by subject to appropriate digital rights, to
Broadly, an additive manufacturing process
buying a license from the manufacturer to allow legitimate customers and service
has the following advantages:
create a replica over a cloud based service technicians to buy/lease licenses for
and greatly reduce supply chain and 1. Can produce parts on demand as it printing a certain number of copies in
inventory carrying costs. Most companies does not require molds, dies or preset online marketplaces like app stores. This
in the EPC (Engineering Procurement and tooling. will build an ecosystem/marketplace where
Construction) sector derive substantial 2. Involves no setup cost for tooling, product vendors and value-added service
benefits from IoT as supply chain and hence can accommodate changes at providers could offer digital versions
inventory carrying costs constitute a major no additional cost. of component specifications either in
part of their expenses that can be done standard designs or modified to suit
3. No minimum batch quantity; can
away with. Turn key projects executed custom needs.
manufacture even a single piece.
by EPC companies like commissioning In the earlier example, consider a scenario
4. Does not require an elaborate
oil refineries, dams, bridges etc. can 3D in which the technician attending to the
production environment, and many
print components needed at site instead food processing equipment’s service
types of equipment can operate in
of waiting for these parts to be procured request is equipped with additive
offices, homes or even in maintenance
and shipped via the company’s preferred manufacturing systems inside the service
technicians’ vans.
vendors. van. The technician could print parts
5. Can manufacture parts with different
Additive manufacturing leverages several before coming to the site or on arrival.
materials ranging from polymers and
unique technologies. Each additive This would eliminate the lead time of
plastics to resins and metals.
manufacturing process varies in the way it parts ordering and delivery, as well as
These advanced manufacturing techniques
deposits material to build a part. significantly shrink sourcing costs. In effect,
not only impart the ability to produce parts
the only party involved in the supply chain
But essentially, it follows a basic process of where and when required but also largely
and repair job is the service technician.

External Document © 2018 Infosys Limited

 New business models will evolve as a result of technology evolution
Companies will be able to exploit the sell cars alone, but rather, a complete equipment, such as 3D printers on which
advantages of the latest technologies mobility solution for several years, and they could receive printing instructions
to adopt new business models built include the cost of peripheral services such for parts based on the analytics and alerts
around deep analytical insights and new as maintenance and insurance in the price. received on cloud infrastructure from the
delivery mechanisms. This will shrink the equipment installed at the customer’s
Such possibilities, which are entirely
organization’s size in terms of staff and premises. Such a service model would
conceivable in the near future, will
physical infrastructure, and thereby save not only allow the service provider to
change the way in which organizations
cost. Products will no longer be physical take timely action but also engage the
look at clients and provide services. In
objects alone, but also include a service customer in discussions to take feedback or
these scenarios, organizations would
component to comprehensively address sell additional products.
continually monitor assets, fine tune them
end user needs. For example, the sale of
over the network when needed, and keep Compared to a conventional customer
washing machines may be replaced by the
customers posted. They might engage service supply chain, these new models
sale of garment washing services at a fixed
local empaneled service technicians to will require significantly fewer people and
cost and duration of say, 10 years.
provide services, enabling them with lesser infrastructure to deliver similar or
Similarly, automobile companies will not information on service requests as well as even superior services.

Customer identifies an issue and logs a service request

Local
Maintenance Back Office Call Center
Contracted
Technician Agency Scheduling Representative
Maintenance technician’s first trip
Log part request + Suggest Maintenance
schedule next service + part Technician site Customer
appointment replacement visit
Component Supply Chain
Retailer/ Maintenance Product
Supplier OEM Warehouse Distributer Channel installed at
partner Technician customer site
Maintenance technician’s second trip
Maintenance
Technician

Figure 1: Conventional Customer Service and Supply Chain Scenario for a Service

Sell product through different sales channels

Maintenance Service Alerts, updates,

Product Alerts, updates, consolidated view Client
consolidated Providers cloud service
Vendor/
view
Original CRM Services
Equipment Monitoring and
Manufacturer Monitoring Service Performance data
(OEM)
Field technician
management service Alerts & Updates
Digital part spec
& standard Product
Parts operating Other Services
Maintenance service at a installed
digital procedures for
time convenient for at client
spec maintenance
Local empanelled service client & 3D printed parts location
technician

Figure 2: Futuristic, connected products talking to a cloud-based infrastructure to produce insights and a field technician who can fulfill the
need based on an online service request

External Document © 2018 Infosys Limited

Challenges
While new products will be designed Though additive manufacturing can 2. Additive manufacturing requires
considering what IoT has to offer, a produce complex intricate parts component specifications with
huge amount of existing assets needing outside the capability of conventional extreme details unlike conventional
maintenance will have to be retrofitted manufacturing processes, it has its own manufacturing processes. Product
with devices to get insights. This may not drawbacks as well: vendors will have to make significant
always be straightforward due to: investments to produce these
1. Certain components are still
specifications, before adopting
1. Inadequate detailed technical best produced by conventional
additive manufacturing as a mode of
knowledge about the equipment. manufacturing processes. Examples
component delivery.
include:
2. Selection of appropriate devices for
3. Availability and cost constraints in
data acquisition. a. Very strong components, such as
procuring industrial grade additive
forgings, may require conventional
3. The difficulty in devising IT systems and manufacturing equipment.
manufacturing.
cloud-based services for monitoring
Assets that are remotely located or operate
equipment not designed from ground b. Components that need very
in very harsh environments may have
up with monitoring integrated in the high surface finishes are yet
challenges in connecting with cloud-based
basic design. difficult to produce by additive
services. Examples include deep sea oil
manufacturing.
4. The need for proven analytics and rig equipment or mining equipment that
mathematical models to convert data c. Certain materials, such as wood, operate hundreds of feet underground.
acquired into insights. can only be processed through Special connectivity solutions will have to
conventional manufacturing be designed and implemented for such
5. Down time involved in retrofitting and
processes due to their inherent applications.
monitoring assets before making them
properties/ limitations in printing.
available for production.

External Document © 2018 Infosys Limited

 Conclusion
Business models will transform from merely selling
products to offering an entire solution, complete with
product, usage options such as leasing, and sundry
business solutions, for a total cost of ownership till
the end of product life. Product vendors will focus
on their core strengths and build better products,
relying greatly or even totally on ecosystem partners
to provide additional services like maintenance, repair
and other support functions.

Leveraging technologies such as IoT, analytics,

sensing, additive manufacturing and others in new
product design will both be the norm and a factor
of success.

About the author

Mitesh Patel,
Group Project Manager – Manufacturing Innovation Initiatives, Manufacturing, Infosys

With over 15 years of industry experience, Mitesh leads the Internet of Things (IoT) domain for the Manufacturing Innovation
Initiative group. He works closely with clients and teams working on IoT programs, enabling development of merging
technology implementations, Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication, and emerging technologies. Mitesh has also worked
in the areas of robotics and product development. Other areas that Mitesh focus on include enterprise application integration.

For more information, contact askus@[Link]

© 2018 Infosys Limited, Bengaluru, India. All Rights Reserved. Infosys believes the information in this document is accurate as of its publication date; such information is subject to change without notice. Infosys
acknowledges the proprietary rights of other companies to the trademarks, product names and such other intellectual property rights mentioned in this document. Except as expressly permitted, neither this
documentation nor any part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, printing, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the
prior permission of Infosys Limited and/ or any named intellectual property rights holders under this document.

[Link] | NYSE: INFY Stay Connected