An MIT Review.
If you’re not already, you need to be paying close attention to The “Fourth Industrial Revolution” happening in the Industrial Sector right now. Businesses are unlocking higher efficiency and unleashing new revenue streams.
Coined Industry 4.0, it generally encompasses technologies like IoT (Internet of Things), Cloud Computing Infrastructure, and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML). Key lessons are being learned that will shape the future of adjacent industries.
Including the Mechanical Service Industry.
Industry 4.0 is the newest era of the industrial sector. The mechanical sector will be next to adopt similar Cloud-based, AI/ML, and IoT Tech.
Industrial companies that are integrating these shiny new tech platforms into their operations are experiencing:
- Reduced Production Downtime
- Extended Equipment Life
- Improved Product Quality
- Predictive/Proactive Maintenance Capabilities
Sound familiar?
The HVAC industry is positioned to benefit massively from the industrial market’s experiences. Not only are the requisite technology costs going down due to broad market adoption, the technology itself has become a battle-hardened workhorse capable of operating in any environment thrown at it.
The industrial sector also faces nearly identical challenges that we do when rolling out new technologies across our industry.
I often tell my clients that once we solve the Technology problem, the real challenge begins.
The Anthropology: How the tribe will adopt and use it.
The MIT article hits the nail on the head: Rather than boil the ocean and overwhelm the whole operation, they recommend companies start with bite-size chunks that will drive the most immediate, significant benefits.
This not only has immediate financial benefit, but more importantly, it makes it so much easier for the team as a whole to buy in and engage with the new technology. This is a page right out of Process Reengineering.
At nClarity we are carefully monitoring Industry 4.0 and constantly integrating what we’ve learned. As we designed our platform, we made a strategic decision to enable our Mechanical Service Partners to “leg into” adoption like our Industrial brethren. That means we allow our partners to implement our program one building at a time, enabling them to start with the customers/buildings that best fit, and maximize the likelihood of successful adoption.
With nClarity’s staged implementation, you can choose to expose select operations teams to the platform, building confidence early while shaping your full Service Ops implementation. Further, Sales teams are able to use the data and reporting to test positioning and messaging to clients.
Some clients start with their own building.
Others pick customers that like new technology.
Some have customers that are actually demanding the technology.
Many have found that clients who are wavering in the renewal cycle make a great initial target, while for others, it's a market based decision.
You may be opening a new location and want to hit the market with a clearly differentiated service model and value proposition.
Whatever the case may be, nClarity gives you the flexibility to make the decision that is right for your company.
With nClarity, you implement at your own pace, and in the ways that make the most sense for you. Once implemented, the benefits are immediate - using mobile and desktop apps, dispatchers, techs and managers can use Building Insights to keep watch on the real-time performance of remote monitored units.
The nClarity Building Insights Dashboard allows dispatchers and managers to stay one step ahead of mission-critical system failures by keeping an eye on real-time performance of remote monitored units.
Implementing the HVAC version of Industry 4.0 doesn’t have to be as daunting as it seems. Though the industrial sector has experienced growing pains with this new technology, we’re optimistic that we can learn and improve upon the groundwork laid by our industrial counterparts, and reap many of the same benefits with little of the same toil.
nClarity’s number one goal is to maximize the benefits for your company, while minimizing the disruption.
It all starts with a single building….
Interested in learning more about how nClarity can help your business? Fill out the form below and one of our product experts will reach out to you.