As part of a benchmarking study carried out by the University of St. Gallen, thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions has been presented with the Successful Practice award for digital services. With the aim of identifying industry-leading solutions for data-based services the study examined the approaches used by 95 international manufacturing companies.
Dr. Donald Weir, CEO Services at thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions: “For our digital services we combine the engineering and process know-how of our engineers with digital capabilities. Data-based solutions are a simple and effective way to enable our customers to utilize the decades of expertise we have built up from plant and machinery installations around the world. We identify the key levers for increasing the availability and productivity of their plants and processes and offer appropriate solutions. We call it Digitalized Expertise.”
The digital services offered by thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions currently fall into two main categories: “Evaluate & Predict” includes solutions such as drone inspections, remote maintenance, and performance and condition monitoring that can be used to monitor industrial plants throughout their entire life cycle and analyze their operations. It is then possible to make condition-based predictions and take preventive measures to avoid disruptions and significantly enhance availability and productivity.
“Automate & Optimize” includes solutions such as fully automated storage systems, remote-controlled ship unloaders and bucket wheel excavators, and digital inventory management. These help increase productivity and safety while at the same time reducing operating costs.
“Most machines and plants today generate large amounts of data. Our solutions enable our customers to use these data profitably by combining them with our technical expertise. We put data in the right context, draw conclusions and make proposals aimed at optimizing plant operations,” says Weir.
thyssenkrupp driving digital transformation in collaboration with customers
To make sure new digital products and services provide real customer value, thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions involves its customers from the mining, cement, chemical and other industries in development work at an early stage. This can take the form of pilot projects, joint research and development efforts or digitization workshops.
One such project recently involved digitizing and optimizing roller mill operations for a customer from the cement industry. thyssenkrupp supplied and installed not only the sensors but also the infrastructure required to collect the digital data. These data were used to automate and optimize the grinding process and the entire roller mill. The result was ten percent higher throughput, lower energy and water consumption, and improved availability.
About the Institute of Technology Management at University of St. Gallen:
The Institute of Technology Management at the University of St. Gallen presents the Successful Practice award to companies achieving outstanding results in cross-industry benchmarking studies. Since 2015 the Institute has performed benchmarking specifically for manufacturing companies that offer data- based services as part of the digitization process. Awards are bestowed on companies that not only realize technical solutions but also master the organizational challenges of the service transformation.
The benchmarking study “Smart Services – Transformation of the Service Organization” identifies the skills and capabilities needed for this and examines the corresponding company structures and processes. The Successful Practice award highlights companies that demonstrate excellence in strategy and process design and in the development, marketing and delivery of data-based services.
About thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions:
Industrial Solutions is a leading partner for the engineering, construction and service of industrial plants and systems. Based on more than 200 years of experience we supply tailored, turnkey plants and components for customers in the chemical, fertilizer, cement, mining and steel industries. As a system partner to the automotive sector we develop highly specialized solutions to meet the individual requirements of our customers. Some 16,000 employees around the world form a global network with a technology portfolio that guarantees maximum productivity and cost-efficiency.