Listen! Your Product Is Trying To Tell You Something

By Russ Fadel, president and GM, ThingWorx, a PTC business, www.ptc.com

Leveraging IoT to put your product data to work can have a huge impact on your business.

The old adage of the customer always being right might need an asterisk in the Internet of Things world. As products continue to get smarter and more connected, not only should we listen to our customers, but we must also listen to our products.

Previously, companies relied on customer feedback to maintain and upgrade products. Today, product analytics can fix issues before they happen and create new opportunities for product design and service. The goal is to understand a product’s use so the company can find and fix problems faster than waiting for customer notifications. Knowing what’s wrong with the product, what spare part is needed, and how to execute the repair (e.g., how to take the product apart) is all information that could flow back to a manufacturer — completely transforming the way service is delivered.