Hitachi Vantara announces intelligent maintenance and repair solution

Hitachi Vantara introduced Lumada Maintenance Insights solutions that will expand the Lumada portfolio at its partner and user conference NEXT 2018 today.

These data-driven, artificial intelligence (AI)-based internet of things (IoT) solutions use accurate, prescriptive and predictive algorithms that help customers anticipate breakdowns and guide them on necessary maintenance repairs, improving operations and avoiding equipment downtime.

The enhancements help enterprises deliver business outcomes by maximising the power of data no matter where it resides – from the data center to the cloud and out to the edge – and move them forward in today's digital, data-driven business landscape.

451 Research Internet of Things research vice president Christian Renaud says, "Our clients who are entering the world of IoT tell us they require new, more flexible architectures that can unlock the value of the vast amounts of data created by devices at the edge.

"Hitachi Vantara is taking a strategic approach to delivering solutions that meet these new requirements.

The new Lumada Maintenance Insights solutions from Hitachi are aimed at the transportation, manufacturing and energy industries, which all rely on complex equipment in environments where unplanned downtime can have significant cost and safety implications.

Customers spend an estimated $37 billion on competitive offerings that stitch together disparate software products for planning, preparing, repairing and invoicing maintenance and repair activities.

Lumada Maintenance Insights solutions aim to deliver a seamless, integrated approach for all levels of personnel involved in maintenance and repair organisations – from repair technicians and maintenance managers up to heads of operations and line of business leads.

Common customer pain points addressed by Lumada Maintenance Insights solutions include:

• Equipment downtime: unplanned outages that impact key operating metrics.
• First-time fix failures: higher costs for rework and lost production.
• Excess parts inventory: wrong parts in the wrong places at the wrong times.
• Low customer satisfaction: a decrease in maintenance contract renewal rates.

Lumada Maintenance Insights incorporates machine learning models that can be customised for specific assets and operational workflows.

The solutions use data analytics to understand equipment health with live and historical repair data, then analyses this data to recommend which maintenance or repair actions should be taken and when to execute them.

The solutions also track and prepare repair recommendations, maintenance schedule optimisation, parts supply optimisation and maintenance effectiveness.

As customers prepare for the architectural disruption that IoT drives across many industries, they need complete, end-to-end solutions that provide strategic business value.

The systems they choose need to provide flexibility in edge-to-cloud deployment models as new demands for edge data management and governance emerge.

Hitachi's Lumada provides modular platform technologies, applications and professional services expertise that help organisations to adopt IoT with confidence.

Hitachi Vantara chief product and strategy officer Brad Surak says, "The emergence of IoT in the industrial landscape has introduced new challenges for customers as they work to stay competitive.

"Hitachi's combined expertise in both operational and information technologies lays a strong foundation for developing solutions to meet these new challenges.