Abstract
This chapter discusses the implication of predictive maintenance (PM) for industrial marketing companies. Using an illustrative case study from the Indian industrial air compressor market, it shows that predictive maintenance solutions will change the way of conventional sales and marketing. Sellers need to focus on early innovation adopters among its customers. They also need to engage with existing customers early on in the purchase process and highlight how PM can reduce the total cost of ownership. PM can be sold effectively to different types of customers- transactional, value-oriented, and collaborative. Industrial marketers have to position the solution appropriately to gain competitive advantage.
TopBackground
In any industry, maintenance plays a key role in ensuring trouble free factory/equipment operation leading to higher productivity and profitability (Lopes et al, 2020). Maintenance cost is a major portion of factory operating cost and has been going up due to increase in labour costs. Thus it is important to have an effective maintenance management system in factories. Machine breakdown has several implications like stalled production, damage to connected systems, loss of productive man power, all leading to lesser revenue and lower customer satisfaction. In several industries like railways or airlines, maintenance is also directly related to safety of human lives. Equipment maintenance involves monitoring their condition and taking steps to ensure their continuous operation.
Maintenance can be divided into three types- reactive, preventive and predictive. The traditional approach has been reactive- to undertake servicing or repair as and when required. This approach is based on the decision of individuals and often not backed by data analysis. It relies on human monitoring and prone to errors, often leading to unscheduled downtime and loss in factory operations. Reactive maintenance leads to high inventory, high labour overtime costs, high machine downtime and lower production.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Organizational Buying: The process followed by organizations during their procurement or purchase.
Predictive Maintenance: The concept and practice of managing equipment maintenance with the help of real-time data captured through physical devices like chip sets, sensors and processors.
Air Compressors: Mechanical devices that increased air pressure by compressing it.
Customer Relationship Management: Processes and tools used by companies to develop and manage relationships with their customers in order to provide them more value.
Industrial/B2B Marketing: Marketing to commercial organizations, governments and non-profit organizations.
Diffusion of Innovation: The process by which innovations spread across a market or customer groups.