How to introduce our smart, connected products and solutions to their customers, be they external or internal, B2B or B2C? For solutions, this usually involves a dedicated rollout process, while for products the Go-to-Market is important.
Smart, connected solutions: Rollout
Effective management of the rollout process for AIoT-enabled solutions is a key success criteria. How exactly this looks like will depend on many factors: is this for one site or one asset only, or is this for multiple sites with multiple assets? Is this for internal customers only, or for external customers? Will this require customizations for individual target sites?
We have discussed a couple of different examples already, which are representing different scenarios, e.g.:
- Single site, single asset: monitoring of particle collisions at the Large Hadron Collider
- Multi site, multi asset: Rollout of a predictive maintenance solution for escalators in train stations
- Multi site, multi asset with customization: Rollout of a predictive maintenance solution for different users of hydraulic components (requires customization of the AI for each customer)
The following describes a generalized process which could be suitable, for example, for a multi site, multi asset situation.
During rollout prepration, a portfolio of all relevant assets and sites (e.g. train stations and escalators) must be created. This portfolion must be evaluated and prioritized. Based on this assessment, a project plan including rollout schedule and resouce management has to be created.
Rollout execution will then require a generalized plan which can be applied to each individual site. In this case, it includes site preparation (e.g. aligning with the train station`s facility management, preparing for deployment), asset preparation (e.g. cordoning off the escalators, enabling access to the reqired internal parts), solution deployment (e.g. deploying an IoT gateway and an ultra-sound sensor), testing the solution (e.g. simulating a problem with the escalator and checking if this is recognized by the solution), and finally transferring everything to operations.
Back to the porfolio level, the next area is performance and control. For example, this can monitor the rollout of the escalator monitoring solution and suggest corrections in case of inefficiencies. Finally, if this is a fixed set of sites / assets, the rollout project needs to be closed properly. This will include preparting measurs for new assets being onboarded. For example, also new escalators acquired in the future should be equipped with the monitoring solutions.
Smart, connected products: Go-to-Market
Continuously improve commercialization
One can not expect to get the product / customer fit right from the very beginning. So a clear focus on the continuous improvement of all relevant aspects of the commercialization is required. In the example shown here, three key KPIs have been identified: number of signups, how many customers are actively using the freemium services, and how many are paying for premium services. There will always be a gap between these three KPIs, but the challenge of course is to drive them all up and minimize the gap. In order to do this, one will contantly have to monitor the customers along their customer journey. AIoT-generated insights can play a key role here, in addition to the standard digital analytics channels. The learning from the analysis must be applied for the continuous improvement of the offering and its commercialization: marketing and sales processes and campaigns can be adapted almost in real-time, especially if they are driven through digital channels. The digital product features can be adapted usually in a relatively short term, e.g. using Over-the-Air capabilities. Finally, even the physical product can be improved from generation to generation using the insights from the analysis of the customer journey. Managing this continuous improvement process effectively will be key to successfully scaling up an AIoT-enabled, digital / physical business.
