Industries and agencies that employ field service teams for monitoring, replenishment or repair can be well-supported by m2m. Such applications fall into three categories:
Systems that need to be refilled
The
vending machine
can benefit greatly from m2m.
Without some form of telemetry,
the refilling process is based on fixed schedules rather than on
measured demand and therefore suffers from three major
inefficiencies: drivers often show up when machines don’t need
refilling, they don’t show up when machines do need refilling, and
they show up with the wrong mix of products.
This adds up to
higher costs and lower revenues for vending companies.
In
contrast, telemetry-equipped machines can place orders when needed,
with the right mix of products, to optimise sales and minimize
replenishment cost.
Systems
that need to be emptied
Conversely, machines that need to be emptied at unpredictable
intervals, such as parking
meters and token collection points
on mass transit systems, could enjoy the same benefits.
In
both cases, expensive fleets of vehicles and drivers are employed to
service individual transaction points, which individually account for
very little revenue but collectively account for very high costs.
By matching service efforts with actual, measured demand,
both private companies and government agencies can make much better
use of their expensive resources.
Systems
that need to be serviced or repaired
The
opportunities in this category range from office machines to railway
crossing barriers to elevators.
Whenever there is a machine in need of attention –
particularly a machine involved in generating revenue or keeping
people safe – m2m can play a major part.
An
additional benefit of wireless m2m that applies to all three
categories is mobility.
For example, a company that leases
office equipment could
easily move its machinery from one customer site to the next without
worrying about installing new phone lines to establish data
connections.
For more information or to discuss Field Service, please contact us
