Working together to develop service business – Flowrox and Process Genius
Cooperation boosts device manufacturer’s transition towards service business
Flowrox (from 11.01.2021 part of the Neles Group) manufactures and sells flow control and management devices for demanding industrial applications in over 50 countries. The Process Genius product family has helped with customer, distributor and staff training, distribution of technical sales materials and product development. The solutions developed in cooperation will also seek to create a new kind of business – moving from the traditional role of equipment manufacturer towards a service business.
Digital twin -platform is streamlining the Flowrox sales network
The collaboration between Flowrox and Process Genius started in 2012 with the Flowrox Pro application, developed on the digital twin platform to streamline the distribution of sales-related material to the sales network. They wanted all the information to be easily found in one place. In the application, Flowrox products are illustrated in a 3D-modelled customer process environment and sales material related to the products can be found in the product information section. The application has helped to increase the sales network’s knowledge of customer processes and the suitability of Flowrox products for different sub-processes.
AR and VR technologies to support education and marketing
Flowrox has been developing Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) solutions since 2015. AR will help train on the operation and maintenance of equipment, VR will act as product demonstrators.
With AR, we will be able to bring information directly into the customer’s environment. In the future, for example, service instructions can be presented on mobile devices using augmented reality (AR), or projected directly onto the visor of the service technician’s helmet using HoloLens technology. We have used VR at the fair to demonstrate our products in a mining environment. Process Genius helps us to be at the forefront of these technologies.
Digital twin supports Flowrox’s product development
Our latest collaboratively developed Digital Twin -solution is the Flowrox Malibu™ user interface, designed on top of the Genius Core™ platform, which gathers and analyses data with sensors from Flowrox’s devices. The user interface is based on 3D modelling of the real customer environment and the processing and visualisation of equipment data.
Our customers outsource the maintenance functions of their factories and the level of technical expertise per piece of equipment can vary widely from one subcontractor to another. Malibu supports and facilitates their operations by making equipment-related information easily and intuitively available, whether it’s for monitoring equipment condition or maintenance.
Sensors connected to equipment and processes are connected to the internet, so Malibu can be used to view equipment remotely and provide remote operational support to the customer. Sensor data provides information on the conditions under which the equipment is operating, enabling analysis of equipment durability and spare parts consumption. The analyses provide the customer with valuable information on, for example, the operation of the equipment and the need for maintenance. In addition to equipment monitoring, Malibu can optimize the operation of equipment and surrounding processes.
A customer may have several different systems handling process data, often communicating using different protocols. Malibu brings together information from different systems and structures the information generated in the process, for example for the factory management or operating staff.
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