Paul Rossiter
Ad Hoc Committee on Emerging Technologies Member
Energy Management Corp.
Salt Lake City, Utah
In my Currents article last January, I discussed the newly formed Ad Hoc Committee on Emerging Technologies, chaired by Art Anderson, and mentioned that I thought there would be continued movement in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) space. Specifically, I said I believed the discussion would increase around the IIoT topic, more companies would be coming into our space using this technology and that customers would begin to increase their adoption.
Unlike many previous shifts in the industry, this one seemed to be moving quickly, so I encouraged EASAns to familiarize themselves with the technology and think about how it might affect their business landscape.
While the adoption rate may not be moving as quickly as anticipated, there continues to be new entrants to the market. I was also surprised to see the level of interest and response from the industry research that EASA sponsored and presented at the 2019 Convention in Las Vegas.
Research Background + Findings
As EASA members, we have access to exclusive industry research that gives critical insight into industry trends and how they have developed over the years. In March of 2019, EASA conducted an in-depth survey to better understand how end users decide between repairing or replacing electric motors and to identify electric motor repair/replacement trends.
Respondents included end-user companies in more than 25 different industries from 44 states and five Canadian provinces. Primary respondent roles included executive/general management, plant engineer, maintenance engineer and reliability engineer.
Internet-enabled condition monitoring has been a hot topic recently and, as a result, questions related to this were added to the list of survey questions. As I looked at some of the findings and dove deeper, I wanted to share one of the surprising insights I gleaned.
The survey returned some very interesting results about internet-enabled condition monitoring. Thirty-three percent of respondents indicated they have current deployments, 17 percent said it was on their 2019 roadmap, and 25 percent said they plan to deploy within the next three years.
While I am skeptical of these claims, the fact that 75 percent of our customers stated they are currently using or that they will be using this technology within the next three years is worth noting. This clearly demonstrates that at a minimum, it’s on top of their minds and is a trend worthy of attention.
Recommendations + Conclusions
When exploring conditional monitoring solutions in service centers, I believe that each EASA member should consider beginning with simple approaches that can be tested with minimal investments of time and capital to see what works for their business.
You might begin with conversations within your network. Ask your employees and other EASA members for their thoughts, feedback and ideas. You’ll likely be surprised at how much knowledge many of them already have on the subject.
Consider reaching out to members of your extended network to see what they are doing on this front. If this is on your radar, it is most likely on theirs as well. They are probably looking for ideas and solutions just like you.
You may also want to try a bit more involved approach like internal product tests and/or a customer pilot program. These methods can help develop a proof of concept and provide you with strong data to support your offering. In all of this, watching for areas to add additional value to our customers is the most critical aspect.
Unless you see a specific, strategic play you are comfortable with, I wouldn’t bet the farm on fully leaning into IIoT or internet-enabled condition monitoring right now. However, it is clear that this direction is very aspirational in our customers’ mindset. It may be beneficial to explore ways we as EASAns can leverage this technology to provide additional value to our customers.
Internet-enabled condition monitoring has the potential to dramatically change our industry. On behalf of the ad hoc committee, we would love to hear your thoughts on these changes and implementation ideas at the Open Forum on Emerging Technologies at the EASA 2020 Convention in June.
Related Reference and Training Materials
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