The rise of the Equipment-as-a-Service Model

Link to this heading # The rise of the Equipment-as-a-Service Model

Is there an alternative to the traditional purchase of machines that enables growth and resilience? Subscription-based models, common in the software industry, are now becoming increasingly popular across industries. Equipment as a Service (EaaS) is an example of a subscription business model in which equipment is provided for a fee that includes maintenance and other value-added services. By moving towards providing a service, industrial companies can ensure better outcomes for their end customers, capture more of the value chain, and create a stable recurring revenue base.

How is this possible? Networked and smart systems help adapt maintenance scheduling to usage and utilize complex analysis to predict maintenance needs or faults. Industrial businesses can minimize risk, improve cash flows, and increase operational productivity with a more reliable product or service.

Driving Performance and Maximizing Value

Equipment as a Service has much to offer, not only in terms of cost-savings but also when it comes to new modes of flexibility, scalability, operational efficiency, and revenue streams. By removing the need for heavy up-front machinery investments, a focus on service and efficient production gives space to innovate and quickly adapt to changing markets. This allows a company to switch out equipment or configurations as required without being constrained by the sunken cost of previously purchased machinery. Furthermore, a subscription-based model enables industrial companies to stay at the forefront of market trends with minimal costs while ensuring peak performance of equipment. And all this is thanks to the focus on predictive maintenance combined with condition monitoring and digital technology.

A holistic predictive implementation with root cause analysis provides a picture of the whole system rather than just the individual components, giving a deeper level of prediction. Condition monitoring with EaaS helps avoid major breakdowns before they can happen. This shift in thinking from capital & investment to operation & service (CAPEX to OPEX) is the new era of manufacturing technology. By externalizing the risks and costs of equipment operation, EaaS promises to revolutionize the industrial landscape.

The Power of Predictability: Rotating Equipment

Rotating equipment is at the core of industrial manufacturing. Likewise, motors are at the heart of a reliable production line with their central role in power generation. Industry surveys show that over 90% of rotating machinery in industrial and commercial applications uses rolling-element bearings. In the case of electric motors, most failure incidents (41%) occur at the bearings.

That’s why predictive maintenance solutions are crucial to monitor the health of motor components and maximize the lifespan of an industrial motor. Modern industrial motors are designed to work for up to 20 years at constant operation. However, they often fail to run through an expected life cycle for numerous reasons, many having to do with improper or ill-timed maintenance.

What is the solution? IIoT sensors deployed correctly in a motor predictive maintenance system allow early prediction of machine faults. Thus, they can help operators repair motor inefficiencies that will ultimately boost overall performance, productivity, asset availability, and a motor’s lifetime.

It comes as no surprise that manufacturers are increasingly moving from preventative maintenance to predictive maintenance solutions with the aid of IIoT sensors and artificial intelligence analysis. Predictive maintenance systems can be implemented using a service-forward model like EaaS, where peak equipment performance is prioritized, adding value along the entire production line.

Igniting Progress: Pay-per-Part

Industrial businesses can reap the benefits of EaaS, where service and operations are prioritized over the need for heavy investment in the equipment itself. This lets a company allocate resources into high-quality output and flexible production strategies that give them the advantage of responding quickly to changes in the market.

Pay-per-Part is the perfect example of a subscription model that offers companies in the sheet metal processing industry entirely new solution opportunities. Jointly developed by the TRUMPF Group and Munich Re Group, the Pay-per-Part offering enables industrial businesses to use a full-service laser machine without the need to buy or lease any equipment. Instead, customers pay a previously agreed price for each cut sheet metal part – in other words, they only pay for the finished parts. This approach allows for more flexible production processes and a faster response to market changes.

A leader in the Equipment as a Service space, relayr supports this innovative model by providing advanced IIoT capabilities. The purpose-built IIoT allows for continuous optimization and operations improvement.

Turning a New Page

Industrial companies moving to the EaaS model can forgo the burden of expensive equipment investment and long-term risk while seeing gains in operational flexibility, scalability, and performance. Relayr’s Equipment as a Service approach utilizes the potential of cutting-edge IIoT applications and AI analysis combined with powerful insurance and financing offerings. If you’d like to raise your company’s performance levels with EaaS, contact us to get your journey started.