The future of machine engi­nee­ring: solu­tions | visual support

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How modern engi­nee­ring compa­nies deal with current chal­lenges, which inno­va­tive solu­tions really support a sustainable future and what role visual support plays in this.

Reading time: approx. 8 minutes
Of inte­rest to: Service manage­ment, main­ten­ance, after sales, plant and machine manu­fac­tu­rers, field services, indus­trial manu­fac­tu­ring compa­nies (with facts & figures from German compa­nies and statis­tics)

Content:

1. Chal­lenges in machine cons­truc­tion 
2. The role of digital trans­for­ma­tion in the future of machine engi­nee­ring 
3. Inno­va­tive service solu­tions as the key to success
4. How should a machine manu­fac­turer be digi­tally posi­tioned in 2025?? 
5. Bitnamic: The missing puzzle piece in mecha­nical engi­nee­ring
6. Outlook and future visions for mecha­nical engi­nee­ring

I. Chal­lenges in machine cons­truc­tion

Manu­fac­tu­ring and indus­trial compa­nies are facing various chal­lenges. Accor­ding to a DIHK survey (chart in german language), the three biggest busi­ness risks include increased energy prices, the economic policy frame­work and the shortage of skilled labour. These and other factors have a huge impact on the industry and require inno­va­tive solu­tions in order to remain compe­ti­tive and meet future requi­re­ments.

ENERGY AND RAW MATERIAL PRICES

Accor­ding to the DIHK survey, rising prices in the energy and raw mate­rials sector are the biggest chall­enge for mecha­nical engi­nee­ring. Compa­nies are called upon to develop more energy-effi­cient solu­tions and opti­mise their produc­tion processes in order to reduce costs and operate more sustain­ably.

SHORTAGE OF SKILLED WORKERS

The shortage of specia­lised staff is not disap­pearing and is proving to be a major problem for the mecha­nical engi­nee­ring industry.
- On the one hand, employees who ‘know machines like the back of their hand’ are reti­ring.
- On the other hand, well-trained young talent is in short supply.
It is beco­ming incre­asingly diffi­cult to find quali­fied employees with the neces­sary exper­tise. To meet this chall­enge effec­tively, compa­nies are taking stra­tegic measures to chall­enge, promote and retain their employees.

COMPLEXITY

Products in the engi­nee­ring sector are beco­ming incre­asingly complex and there is a growing variety of models, which poses chal­lenges for deve­lo­p­ment, produc­tion and main­ten­ance. Compa­nies must ther­e­fore opti­mise their processes and find inno­va­tive solu­tions to master this comple­xity and increase effi­ci­ency.

PRICE PRINT

Price pres­sure within the industry is high. Custo­mers demand cost-effec­tive solu­tions without compro­mi­sing on quality. Compa­nies must ther­e­fore opti­mise their cost struc­tures and offer inno­va­tive products and services at the same time in order to remain compe­ti­tive.

DIGITISATION | Industry 4.0 | IoT (Internet of Things) & AI

Digital trans­for­ma­tion plays a decisive role in the future of mecha­nical engi­nee­ring. Compa­nies that rely on the ‘tried and tested’ and still say things like ‘That’s always worked’, which do not digi­ta­lise their busi­ness models and processes, will not be compe­ti­tive in the long term and will miss the oppor­tu­nity to take advan­tage of new digital oppor­tu­ni­ties. The deve­lo­p­ment of a digital stra­tegy is ther­e­fore of great importance in order to exploit the poten­tial of digi­ta­li­sa­tion and ensure the future viabi­lity of the company.

If that wasn’t enough of a chall­enge, there are other issues on top such as spare parts manage­ment, a properly func­tio­ning service hotline, the docu­men­ta­tion of machines and systems (e.g. user manuals), quality manage­ment, warranty manage­ment and finding a suitable successor for the company at some point (espe­ci­ally in the small and medium-sized enter­prise sector).

In its report Company Succes­sion 2024 (only available in german language) the DIHK esti­mates that the exis­tence of more than 250,000 compa­nies could be jeopar­dised in the next five years — not only because the search for suitable inte­rested parties fails, but also due to incre­asing bureau­cracy, uncer­tainty and costs.

– But how do you deal with all these chal­lenges and still remain compe­ti­tive? –

II. The role of digital trans­for­ma­tion in the future of machine engi­nee­ring

The digital trans­for­ma­tion will have a signi­fi­cant impact on mecha­nical engi­nee­ring in the coming years. By using digital tech­no­lo­gies and data, compa­nies can opti­mise their processes, increase effi­ci­ency and open up new busi­ness oppor­tu­ni­ties.

The digital trans­for­ma­tion enables connected produc­tion and improved commu­ni­ca­tion along the entire value chain. By using Industry 4.0 tech­no­lo­gies such as IoT, big data and arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence, compa­nies can monitor, analyse and opti­mise their produc­tion processes. This enables them to reduce costs, improve quality and respond more flexibly to customer requi­re­ments. And who doesn’t want to offer a perfect customer- or service expe­ri­ence?

In addi­tion, the digital trans­for­ma­tion is opening up new busi­ness models and services. However, this also requires a change in corpo­rate culture and working methods. Compa­nies need to embrace this, reco­g­nise oppor­tu­ni­ties, prepare their work­force for the new requi­re­ments and involve them in the digital trans­for­ma­tion. Open commu­ni­ca­tion, further trai­ning and the promo­tion of digital skills are crucial to ensure the success of the digital trans­for­ma­tion.

III. Inno­va­tive service solu­tions as the key to success

Excel­lent service solu­tions are crucial to the success of mecha­nical engi­nee­ring compa­nies. They enable problems to be iden­ti­fied quickly, main­ten­ance work to be carried out effi­ci­ently and down­times to be mini­mised.

On the one hand, there is soft­ware that is able to record and analyse data from machines in order to iden­tify poten­tial problems at an early stage. By using predic­tive main­ten­ance*, main­ten­ance work can be planned and down­times mini­mised.

On the other hand, visual support soft­ware gives you the oppor­tu­nity to offer your custo­mers improved 24/7 support. The soft­ware has many convin­cing advan­tages: it reli­eves employees by saving manpower so that they only have to travel to the ‘really big service cases’. This saves resources (shortage of specia­lised staff), mini­mises costs for travel, main­ten­ance & servicing and machine down­time. Compa­nies that rely on such soft­ware improve their service expe­ri­ence for their custo­mers and their own team, their ‘time-to-service’ (support in seconds) and, last but not least, their compe­ti­ti­ve­ness.

Visual Support soft­ware can be connected to an exis­ting ticket system (e.g. Sales­force, ServiceNow, Dyna­mics). This enables various billing options and the tracking of processes in tickets. This opens up new sources of revenue and increases customer satis­fac­tion and trust in high-quality service.

All service solu­tions to be procured should enable you to commu­ni­cate and colla­bo­rate easily, both intern­ally and with custo­mers.

In the coming years, service solu­tions will become incre­asingly important in order to remain compe­ti­tive and meet incre­asing demands. Compa­nies should ther­e­fore invest in inno­va­tive service solu­tions at an early stage and prepare for the future.

* Predic­tive main­ten­ance is an Industry 4.0 appli­ca­tion that is based on the analysis of machine data and proac­tively main­tains systems.

IV. How should a machine manu­fac­turer be digi­tally posi­tioned in 2025??

Accor­ding to the MIT Tech­no­logy Review Insights survey, there are likely to be three main areas of busi­ness in 2025 where AI use will become signi­fi­cantly more important compared to 2022. These are

1. IT and

2. finance depart­ments as well as

3. func­tions related to supply chain and manu­fac­tu­ring processes.

V Bitnamic: The missing puzzle piece in mecha­nical engi­nee­ring

Bitnamic GmbH specia­lises in digital (AR) soft­ware solu­tions for loca­tion-inde­pen­dent service and employee quali­fi­ca­tion. With bitnamic CONNECT, the company offers three versa­tile hubs

– Visual Support, Docu­men­ta­tion & Academy –

in one product to speed up service processes, save costs and effec­tively coun­teract the shortage of specia­lised staff. Compa­nies from various indus­tries (inclu­ding aero­space, auto­mo­tive and phar­maceu­ti­cals) benefit from service opti­mi­sa­tion, employee enablement and digital trans­for­ma­tion.

Inte­gra­tion into exis­ting ticket systems

In service, diffe­rent solu­tions are often used for trou­ble­shoo­ting and provi­ding service. In most cases, so-called ticket systems are used, which are used for recei­ving requests and commu­ni­ca­ting to resolve problems.

Our solu­tion connects Visual Support directly to your ticket system and/or customer portal, e.g. ServiceNow, MS Dyna­mics or Sales­force. 

Gene­rally, these systems are the central point of contact for service depart­ment and are deeply embedded in the company’s processes. They also store important data that can be used to improve the company’s own products and service.

It is ther­e­fore all the more important that data islands and non-inte­grated soft­ware solu­tions are avoided, i.e. that func­tions such as visual support (remote main­ten­ance) can be accessed from the ticket system.
That’s exactly what we provide with bitnamic CONNECT.

Do you have any ques­tions about inte­gra­tions or would you like to find out more about bitnamic CONNECT? Contact us today!

VI Outlook and future visions for mecha­nical engi­nee­ring

Engi­nee­ring is facing an exci­ting future full of oppor­tu­ni­ties and chal­lenges. If compa­nies embrace the digital trans­for­ma­tion, they will be able to develop inno­va­tive solu­tions to remain compe­ti­tive.

Future visions for engi­nee­ring include the advanced use of rental models, the inte­gra­tion of arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence and machine lear­ning, the auto­ma­tion of processes and the inte­gra­tion of IoT tech­no­lo­gies into produc­tion, all the way to the smart factory.

In addi­tion, service solu­tions such as those deve­loped by Bitnamic will play an incre­asingly important role. By using visual support soft­ware, compa­nies are able to improve their service quality, mini­mise down­times and enhance the customer expe­ri­ence.

Ther­e­fore, it is important that compa­nies reco­g­nise the oppor­tu­ni­ties of digi­ta­li­sa­tion at an early stage and invest in inno­va­tive solu­tions. This is the only effec­tive way to successfully meet the chal­lenges of the future and shape a sustainable path forward in mecha­nical engi­nee­ring.

*

On the topic:

Sources (mostly available in German language):

1. https://www.dihk.de/de/aktuelles-und-presse/aktuelle-informationen/deutschlands-mittelstand-tragende-wirtschaftssaeule-geraet-unter-stress-120978 Accessed on August 16, 2024

2. Statistik: DIHK. (15. Februar, 2024). Welche Geschäfts­ri­siken sehen Sie für Ihre Unter­nehmen inner­halb der nächsten Monate? [Graph]. In Statista. Accessed on June 11, 2024, from https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1290347/umfrage/geschaeftsrisiken-fuer-die-deutsche-industrie/

3. https://de.statista.com/infografik/30520/geschaeftsbereiche-in-denen-ki-als-zentraler-bestandteil-gilt-gelten-wird/

4. Statistik. (Statista 2024) Ausgaben für IT-Sicher­heit in Deutsch­land in den Jahren 2017 bis 2021 und Prognose bis 2025, Accessed on August 19, 2024 by, https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1041736/umfrage/ausgaben-fuer-it-security-in-deutschland/

5. Deloitte. Maschi­nenbau 2030. Vier Szena­rien für den Wachs­tums­motor Maschi­nenbau. Accessed on August 19, 2024 https://www2.deloitte.com/de/de/pages/energy-and-resources/articles/maschinenbau-2030.html