Summary: Any industry leveraging diverse hardware on worksites can use Viam to collect and view all telemetry data on a single dashboard, remotely run diagnostics to enable predictive maintenance, and deliver over-the-air updates to machines. This allows companies to get a bird’s-eye view of their heterogeneous fleet at a glance and access the latest technological innovations without the expense of buying entirely new machines, helping to cut down on operational costs while providing better customer service.
The technological cutting edge moves quickly these days, often much faster than the time horizon of decades that companies expect their expensive industrial equipment and other machines to last. Innovations like artificial intelligence, data analytics, and robotic process automation are making an impact across a variety of companies well-positioned to take advantage of their benefits.
If your enterprise only bought its mission-critical equipment a few years ago, you may be kicking yourself when you think of all the labor and cost savings the latest data monitoring and automation features could be providing right now. But it’s also most likely too soon to lay out cash or take out credit for the capex required to buy updated machines again.
Fortunately, you don’t have to choose between making an expensive new investment and getting the latest innovations incorporated into your current equipment. With Viam, it is straightforward to add the smart functionality you would like to the existing machines you already have.
This not only allows you to extend equipment lifespans without missing out on the actionable insights and data-driven decisionmaking that newer machines increasingly offer; it also allows you to tap into a wider pool of available engineers whose skills might otherwise remain incompatible with legacy assets to manage those machines using modern software languages and protocols.
Remote monitoring & diagnostics for a heterogeneous fleet
One of the most pressing challenges when it comes to businesses that need to manage a wide array of machines is how to get real-time visibility into those assets. The first hurdle is that most of those devices will be siloed depending on which company manufactured them, so there will probably be a need to toggle between different tools depending on which machine’s data is being gathered.
In addition, diagnosing potential machine issues and performing maintenance has traditionally required a technician to be on site, which is not only an expense in terms of sending someone to carry out repairs, but also has costs in terms of downtime and delays until that technician can get their hands on the machine.
Viam's cutting-edge technology is designed to enable real-time data exchange and analysis between machines no matter their make or manufacturer, ranging from programmable logic controllers (PLCs) to IoT devices. The platform then leverages the cloud to allow enterprises to capture and view telemetry data from across their various fleets on a single pane of glass.
With Viam installed on machines, there is an opening to handle more machine maintenance and repair tasks remotely. This leads to less spending by sending out technicians for in-person visits only when absolutely necessary, and getting machines back up and running more quickly to limit downtime.
There are also benefits to being able to collect real-time and historical telemetry data once Viam is in place on machines. With that kind of visibility into health and performance, it can become possible to perform predictive maintenance before a machine breaks down. Such swift, proactive measures based on the data Viam collects can prevent downtime that otherwise would have been caused by a busted machine.
If a technician does still need to visit a site in the absence of a remote remediation solution, Viam arms them with comprehensive data and insights about machines that can make their in-person diagnostics and repairs go that much faster. This historical machine telemetry is also useful for reporting purposes around de-risking and audits so that efficiencies can be recorded and scaled out across an organization’s fleets.
Beyond maintenance: Updating machines at scale
Viam's scalability enables the seamless management of multiple machines at various locations, offering a holistic view of operations and facilitating better overall decision-making. Enterprises can also carry out remote code deployment to any machine running Viam. This empowers them to streamline and automate the way they manage and deploy software updates across diverse machines, and more easily roll out patches and other urgent fixes.
By providing a centralized platform for machine code deployments, Viam makes it a more straightforward process to maintain version control across similar machines, send updates only to a specific group of machines that need them, and to test and if needed roll an update back to ensure updated machines are functioning smoothly.
Being able to remotely deploy code to any machine where it is needed is ultimately a question of delivering innovation faster, and making sure that users can get the most out of machines as quickly as possible. Simply reducing the number of situations where a technician needs to show up in person to make manual machine updates is also a productivity boost in itself.
Start driving business value with Viam
Viam is more than just a software platform for smart machines - it's a catalyst for innovation and growth. By connecting the dots between added machine features and their business outcomes, Viam empowers organizations to stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly competitive landscape, and makes sure they are able to consistently provide the best machine for the job.
Ready to unlock the full potential of your existing assets? Sign up for Viam today and experience firsthand how it can transform your business operations. With Viam, the future of remote diagnostics and smart machine operational management is within reach.
