Companies in the HVAC industry are fast looking towards technology solutions to help them improve their operations and enhance customer experience. While consistently obtaining exceptional customer service standards for HVAC companies is still desirable, most of the market leaders have already started incrementally improving their technology stack to differentiate themselves from the pack.
The HVAC industry is undergoing a tectonic change – the evolving customer expectations coupled with a cut-throat marketplace resulting in shrinking profit margins has indicated that HVAC companies cannot underestimate the importance of the experience which is dished out to the customer. If you have been a part of the HVAC industry for some time, you would agree that running a profitable business requires more than just trained technicians and accurate equipment – you would also need to provide an outstanding customer experience to create loyal customers.
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As part of the initiative to improve factory productivity, uptime, and cost-effectiveness, maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) is an important area on which HVAC companies must concentrate. MRO affects almost every area of the business and includes every part and piece of equipment that ensures the overall condition of the machine.
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Over the past few decades, the maritime and shipping industry has undergone a tectonic reinvention. Some of the progressive companies have embraced digitalization and are now starting to see the business results of their initiatives. For most others, key aspects of their business operations remain firmly anchored in the past, dependent on manual and paper-based systems. However, the pandemic and the uncertainties to the business environment are fast-tracking digital transformation in many such companies. This is aptly complemented by a push from the local governments, evolving customer expectations, an imperative to reduce operational costs.
Procurement is an essential component of any business, but more so in the maritime industry. An unorganized or poorly managed procurement process could lead to various inefficiencies and unnecessary delays, leading to the shipping company's tens of thousands of dollars. To operate effectively, and to ensure SLA’s are met, there is minimum wastage and customer experience is catered to, shipping companies in the marine industry have several suppliers, vendors, and partners with whom they work closely to purchase goods and services, which have to be managed aptly by the procurement process.
Field services remain to be more complex than expected today. Field technicians still struggle to fix issues at the fastest rate possible, use more parts and materials than needed, and are grappling with various types of issues for various equipment or machine that need to be serviced. Sad to say, almost all facets of field service management are reactive, and are heavily based on workflows and the time it takes to maintain or repair an asset.
Service providers are under tremendous pressure – competition in the market has never been more intense. There is an ever-increasing pressure from the customers for better service quality standards at competitive prices. Shrinking margins, a migratory labor pool, and start-ups looking to gain market share are all aspects which the service provider has to keep in mind while projecting revenue growth numbers for the next quarter. Cost considerations are fast being replaced by providing superior customer experiences and service providers realize the only way they could survive in the marketplace is by adopting digital applications which would improve efficiencies and reduce costs.
Industry 4.0, the proclaimed fourth industrial revolution, is unfolding at the moment. It is characterized by interconnectedness and vast amounts of available information. Productivity has risen continuously due to modern machines. With the advancement of technology, maintenance can do much more than merely preventing downtimes of individual assets. Machines are increasingly interconnected along the production chain. One failing machine might halt the whole production process. Today, poor maintenance strategies can reduce the overall productive capacity of a plant by 5 to 20 percent[1]