Machine downtime hurts. It hurts productivity and profits – and it causes frustration. Every minute that slips by with a machine unable to operate negatively impacts the bottom line. So, it’s no surprise that manufacturers are looking for the most cost-effective and time-efficient way to get the technical support they need to deal with downtime and repairs.
In many situations, technical support via a phone call with a knowledgeable advisor provides the answers you need to fix a problem. But other times, the issue might be more complex or unfamiliar. There can be a variety of obstacles to getting a machine up and running - including having workers who don’t have the necessary skills. Other barriers include:
- It can be hard to describe a problem or know exactly what went wrong
- If the directions from a technical support person are complex, it might be challenging to understand them – especially if you have no experience with the problem at hand
- If you misunderstand the tech support directions, you may accidentally take steps that make the situation worse rather than better. That’s a common risk with potentially serious consequences.
- Depending upon the time of night or day, a trained person may not be on-site. And with the skills gap widening, it gets harder to have a trained person always on hand.
And here’s the real time-killer: If the problem is serious enough that it requires an on-site visit, time is lost while the technical expert travels to the site. If the problem is in a remote location, travel time could amount to a day or more - rather than hours. And lost production time grows.
Of course, it would be ideal if a technical expert could be on hand, ready to respond on the plant floor for every maintenance issue – explaining and coaching to get the problem solved quickly and correctly. Unfortunately, that isn’t possible for many manufacturers. That’s why we’re introducing the Live View Support tool, which leverages PTC augmented reality (AR) technology to help you solve your most complex plant-floor problems.