Volvo Penta’s work with industrial connectivity
Ensuring the continuous success of our customers’ business operations is our highest priority at Volvo Penta. Connectivity is the natural next step in this process, as connected industrial engines present unprecedented opportunities in terms of everything from predictive maintenance to decision-making. By exploring the opportunities that connectivity presents, and doing so together with our customers, we are able to create even greater business value and improve business operations in several different ways. Here’s how we do that.
Why does Volvo Penta focus on industrial connectivity?
Volvo Penta provides advanced technological solutions and sophisticated software. This in order to, for example, reduce emissions, facilitate maintenance, and increase uptime. That said, we know that complexity is not necessarily an attractive feature in and of itself; customer value is what matters. If anything, we want to make our customers’ business easier and their decision-making more straightforward. Connectivity allows us to do just that: provide solutions that have an immediate, concrete impact on our customers’ business, productivity and uptime.
How data from connected industrial engines improves business operations
Generally speaking, industrial diesel engines steadily become more electronic and (to a certain extent) less mechanical. Connected industrial engines produce lots of data that largely could not be obtained otherwise. The real business value of this data, however, comes from the insights we get and the analyses we are able to make from it. This way, we are able to develop our products further, design new services, and translate the data into actionable information that benefits our customers.
At its core, connectivity is designed to make things easier by translating bits and bytes into concrete, everyday value. The diesel engine is in many ways the heart of your industrial operation. That heart needs to stay vital in order to do what is required of it. The more insights that can be gained from it, the greater the benefits for the customer. Connectivity gives us a much better understanding of how our engines are used; something that will have a significant impact on customers’ operations and their profitability.
Three key benefits of connectivity in industrial business operations
● Improved quality and predictability
Connectivity enables the efficient treatment of symptoms, before they become illnesses. Detecting and addressing issues early on saves both time and money, as a minor repair or adjustment can help prevent a longer and costlier standstill in the future. Your engines can perform with excellence for longer, reducing both maintenance costs and uncertainty.
● Increased uptime and reliability
It is easy to just think of uptime as your normal, everyday workflow – and it should be, of course. However, when faced with downtime, the damage has already been done. It is always costly and always inconvenient. Thanks to connectivity, and the insights it provides, we can make our engines more reliable and high-performing.The early detection of potential issues means that malfunctions and downtime can largely be prevented. The time required for fault-tracing is reduced as well.
● Quicker, more optimized decision-making
Connected industrial engines allow for instant decision-making, where a fleet owner/manager (for example) will be able to act right away and conduct a quick repair that may prevent a bigger problem. Even when our customers are remote, they can still know how their machines are performing, and make decisions accordingly.
Developing the connected industrial engines of tomorrow
So, where is Volvo Penta in the entire business operation ecosystem? Our expertise lies with the engine, its capacity and its reliability. On the one hand, we have a long company history of working with engines and their performance capability within a wide variety of industries and applications. On the other hand, we constantly learn more from and about all the engines that are out there, operating in all kinds of environments and settings.
It is difficult to overstate how useful all of this accumulated information is, not least in terms of product and service development. In addition to paving the way for the even better connected industrial engines of tomorrow, it enables a whole new kind of predictability to industrial business operations at large. We are on an exciting journey, and look forward to exploring the many possibilities that lie ahead.
Do you have any questions about Volvo Penta’s work with industrial connectivity, and how it can support and improve your business? Feel free to contact me, send me an email Pieter Gheeraert.
Make sure to also read our upcoming blog articles on connectivity, as this is a subject we will continue to explore. Visit our website to learn more about the work we do, and how we operate as a business partner.
