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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