IncBizNet , the online site for Inc. Magazine, just posted a video clip from our service design workshop in New York City. Check it out below.

You can also find a set of photos from the workshop on Flickr.

Thanks again to the entire staff at IncBizNet for organizing a great event!

Frontier Service Design Helps Avanceon Create New Revenue Channel:
24/7 Remote Monitoring Service Assures Factory Up-time and Productivity

Background : Since 1984, Avanceon, Inc. has designed and integrated factory automation systems for large manufacturers in both discrete and process industries. Essentially, Avanceon creates the “central nervous system” of a factory, connecting sensors to all components along the manufacturing line to monitor the health and well-being of the entire operation. As in most industries, downtime in a manufacturing plant dramatically impacts delivery deadlines and company profit margins. However in a process industry – such as petrochemicals or pharmaceuticals where each step depends on the next – time equals money and downtime is costly.

Over the past few years, organizations have implemented a series of strategic initiatives to reduce downtime associated with the growing complexity and interdependence of manufacturing processes. Where engineers once served as the “walking encyclopedias” on the factory floor, sophisticated automation processes have now taken their place, reducing the potential for human error and increasing the speed with which decisions can be made.

Challenge :  Originally positioned as a project-oriented service company Avanceon would do an outstanding job in helping their corporate manufacturing clients streamline their process. The typical engagement was anywhere from 3 – 12 months, and when the project was over Avanceon would move onto the next project. Inevitably, however, Avanceon would get a frantic call from clients informing them that something had gone wrong in the plant. In response, Avanceon would drop everything they were doing (often for a different client,) hop on a plane and go to the client site. Most of the time, the problem was a loose cable, a bad sensor or someone who had reset a switch.  Quickly, Avanceon engineers would resolve the problem, go home and send an invoice for a service call. However, this model of crisis/fix, crisis/fix was not efficient or effective for either Avanceon or its clients.
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First the bad news:

The Institute for Supply Management’s index of non-manufacturing activity showed that economic activity in U.S.-based service sectors contracted for the fourth-straight month.

Now the good news:

The rate of contraction has slowed for the past two months, which might be a sign that that service industries are close to a bottom.

If we’ve learned anything from past market gyrations it is this; very few things are ever as good or as bad as they first appear. Stay focused on the long view.

Kevin Kelly has a great post on his blog, "The Technium" with thought-provoking notions about ownership, renting, and borrowing as they relate to both goods and services in both the physical world and online. Here is a great quote:

“The downside to the traditional rental business is the “rival” nature of physical goods. Rival means that there is a zero-sum game; only one rival prevails. If I am renting your boat, no one else can. If I rent a bag to you, I cannot rent the same bag to another. To scale your rental business you have to buy more boats or bags. But of course, intangible goods and services don’t work this way. They are “non-rival” which means you can rent the same movie to as many people who want to rent it this hour. Sharing intangibles scales magnificently. This ability to share on a large scale without diminishing the satisfaction of the individual renter is transformative. The total cost of use drops precipitously (shared by millions instead of one). Suddenly, ownership is not so important. Why own, when you get the same utility from renting, leasing, licensing, sharing?”

These notions bring into focus some innovative ideas for designing new services.

Kevin is a terrific writer, and a very smart guy with great insights on a wide array of topics. I also highly recommend his "Cool Tools " weekly email with tips on all sorts of things (bits and bytes) to make life easier or more interesting. You can subscribe here .

1 – Added a link in our Press section to an article that was written about Frontier Service Design in the local newspaper last week.

2 – Have added a list of our clients .