Managing Automation- July 2008 - (Page 38) [ J U LY 2 0 0 8 ] Transformation Integration TechWatch Industries [ INTEGRATION ] Harvesting the SUGGESTION BOX Too many manufacturers ignore the information generated by their customer service processes. Now an emerging set of tools can help them improve products and processes by capturing, analyzing, and applying this valuable data. BY MARTY WEIL, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR he great philosopher Sir Francis Bacon understood that knowledge is power. Today, manufacturers looking for every advantage in an increasingly competitive global marketplace are seeking to unlock the wisdom contained in their service data. Manufacturers are tapping service data — which encompasses a wide range of aftermarket information — to drive continuous improvement processes as well as to help design teams make critically important adjustments to products. Many manufacturers are using advanced database software and sophisticated product lifecycle management (PLM) tools to feed service data to their product design and development teams. “Manufacturers seeking to reduce costs will benefit from the use of data generated by service and support processes,” says Marc McCluskey, service director at AMR Research in a recent study. “Companies must incorporate service data at the product level into the design process if they hope to learn from customer experience and improve future product generations.” Marc Halpern, research director at Gartner, agrees. “By capturing service data, manufacturers can address issues early by passing diagnostic data to product development engineers. If the engineers see certain repair patterns and defects, they can adjust the design of the product to make it more reliable. I hate to say this, but sometimes they don’t. Depending on the cost to the manufacturer and the threshold of pain for the customer, manufacturers would rather reap the ongoing main- ma July 38 2008 Photo illustration: Managing Automation
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation- July 2008 Managing Automation- July 2008 Contents Take 1 HP's Acquisition of EDS May Face Integration, Global Delivery Challenges Rimini Plans to Woo SAP Support Users Rockwell Steps Up Its Activities in Software Microsoft Targets the Process of Innovation Supply Chain Standouts Honored by AMR Notes Who Are Today's Influential Thinkers? The Robot Revolution Is the Price Right? Without a Trace Harvesting the Suggestion Box Product Scan Advertiser Index Next Managing Automation- July 2008 Managing Automation- July 2008 - Managing Automation- July 2008 (Page Cover1) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Managing Automation- July 2008 (Page Cover2) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Contents (Page 3) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Contents (Page 4) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Contents (Page 5) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Take 1 (Page 6) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Take 1 (Page 7) Managing Automation- July 2008 - HP's Acquisition of EDS May Face Integration, Global Delivery Challenges (Page 8) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Rimini Plans to Woo SAP Support Users (Page 9) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Rockwell Steps Up Its Activities in Software (Page 10) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Microsoft Targets the Process of Innovation (Page 11) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Supply Chain Standouts Honored by AMR (Page 12) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Supply Chain Standouts Honored by AMR (Page 13) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Notes (Page 14) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Notes (Page 15) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Who Are Today's Influential Thinkers? (Page 16) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Who Are Today's Influential Thinkers? (Page 17) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Who Are Today's Influential Thinkers? (Page 18) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Who Are Today's Influential Thinkers? (Page 19) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Who Are Today's Influential Thinkers? (Page 20) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Who Are Today's Influential Thinkers? (Page 21) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Who Are Today's Influential Thinkers? (Page 22) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Who Are Today's Influential Thinkers? (Page 23) Managing Automation- July 2008 - The Robot Revolution (Page 24) Managing Automation- July 2008 - The Robot Revolution (Page 25) Managing Automation- July 2008 - The Robot Revolution (Page 26) Managing Automation- July 2008 - The Robot Revolution (Page 27) Managing Automation- July 2008 - The Robot Revolution (Page 28) Managing Automation- July 2008 - The Robot Revolution (Page 29) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Is the Price Right? (Page 30) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Is the Price Right? (Page 31) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Is the Price Right? (Page 32) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Is the Price Right? (Page 33) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Without a Trace (Page 34) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Without a Trace (Page 35) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Without a Trace (Page 36) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Without a Trace (Page 37) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Harvesting the Suggestion Box (Page 38) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Harvesting the Suggestion Box (Page 39) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Harvesting the Suggestion Box (Page 40) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Product Scan (Page 41) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Product Scan (Page 42) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Product Scan (Page 43) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Product Scan (Page 44) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Product Scan (Page 45) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Product Scan (Page 46) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Product Scan (Page 47) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Product Scan (Page 48) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Product Scan (Page 49) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Product Scan (Page 50) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Product Scan (Page 51) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Advertiser Index (Page 52) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Advertiser Index (Page 53) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Next (Page 54) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Next (Page Cover3) Managing Automation- July 2008 - Next (Page Cover4)
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