From manufacturer to service provider – the steps to enabling “as a service”

June 26, 2019
Sierra Monitor

Many of today’s equipment manufacturers are facing a similar challenge. Their markets are increasingly competitive and contested and margins are shrinking. In this highly competitive environment, it’s becoming difficult to keep profits from shrinking, and just as difficult to generate new business. 

One of the ways that the companies that manufacture industrial and commercial equipment can grow revenues and increase profits is by identifying new offerings to bring to market. And the offerings that many of them are toying with aren’t new products – they’re services. 

This new trend of product and equipment manufacturers working to become services companies is detailed and explained in a new eBook  entitled, “The HVACaaS Revolution”. In the eBook, the authors take a deep dive into the financial reasons why these companies are embracing services, the technologies that are making it possible, and the steps that equipment manufacturers can follow if they’d like to add services to their portfolio of offerings. 

The eBook finds that the introduction of services can do more than simply increase a manufacturer’s revenue and drive up profits. It can actually help increase the company’s value to both investors and potential acquirers. 

The decision to embrace services isn’t just good for manufacturers and their bottom lines. It’s something that will also benefit the end user. As the authors write, “Ultimately, there is no organization, company or individual that knows a device better than its manufacturer. By selling maintenance and management services to the equipment owner following the sale of the equipment or device, the manufacturer can …provide operational guidance and insight and deliver a better, more efficient experience, at a reasonable monthly rate.” 

 

However, as the old saying goes, “You have to spend money to make money.” To make the mutually beneficial, and profitable, addition of services to their offerings, the eBook finds that companies must first make an investment into their technology and products. 

Offering services and embracing the “As a Service” model requires that companies harvest information and data from their installed devices in the field. Once that data is being aggregated and analyzed by the manufacturer, the door then swings open to the introduction of service offerings. In fact, according to the eBook, the cloud-enablement of devices is “step one” of four that manufacturers can follow to introduce service offerings. 

Equipment manufacturers may be facing increased competition and shrinking margins, but there is a way to drive new revenue streams for their companies. With an investment in new technologies and cloud-enabling their devices, they can become service providers, opening the door to more revenue for their companies and better experiences for their customers. 

To download a complimentary copy of, “The HVACaaS Revolution,” click HERE. For a handy infographic featuring the four steps to becoming a services company, click HERE

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