Machine data will transform the relationships that equipment managers have with their distributors. It may be as simple as monitoring fault codes, or it could involve a more complex relationship such as a performance guarantee or total fleet-management services.
The relationship between the equipment distributor and fleet manager will necessarily require trust and transparency, and the so-called “win-win” descriptive takes on a more realistic meaning. Distributors will have the capabilities that big data can provide, but fleets must be able to trust not only the integrity of the data, but also that competitive information remains confidential. How this relationship develops will depend on dealer expertise, performance, and pricing as much as it will depend on equipment managers’ need for the services that will come.
As the potential for service/support partnership grows, Construction Equipment set out to measure where it stands in 2018. To gather the data, we invited our subscribers to participate in an online survey, garnering 126 respondents.