The Value Of Remote Product Service

By Sumair Dutta

Given the trifecta of cost, customer satisfaction, and revenue pressures facing service and manufacturing firms, it is not surprising that Aberdeen continues to track growing interest in remote connectivity, remote management, and remote service, all coined under the term remote product service (RPS). Essentially, RPS describes the service and maintenance processes (from break-fix to preventive to predictive) that are afforded to OEMs and service organizations from being able to remotely monitor their assets out in the field or on the plant floor. Aberdeen's research has not only tracked the growing proportion of remotely monitored assets but also the increasing application of usage information gathered from these assets for data-based "smart services." For example, 24% of firms in an April 2009 research survey indicated that they had been using remote service applications for more than five years, with a total of 63% of firms indicating some usage of remotely connected assets for service and asset maintenance.