Bidding to boost the market for machine-to-machine (M2M) technology, market leader Axeda Corp. recently entered into partnerships with spare parts planning technology vendor MCA Solutions and consulting services provider Deloitte.
The most recent deal, a marketing partnership with MCA, will focus on manufacturers in industrial and medical equipment markets that are attempting to improve remote service and support processes. Under the agreement, Axeda and MCA will jointly market integrated versions of their products, both of which address remote service processes. Axeda's ServiceLink on-demand service uses a network of sensors to monitor and report on the performance of remote equipment. MCA's Service Planning Optimization product, available as on-premise software or on demand service, lets manufacturers plan and optimize the availability of after-market parts in their service networks.
By using the Axeda service to feed real-time equipment field performance information to MCA's optimization system, said Axeda Marketing Vice President Brian Anderson, manufacturers will be able to improve field service quality while reducing spare parts inventory costs.
"MCA solves parts usage and inventory optimization problems, and we give more accurate diagnostics on what parts are failing," Anderson says. "If you put those together, manufacturers can be more intelligent about understanding what requirements for parts are in the field."