Event Recap: What You Missed at the Servigistics Customer Advisory Group meeting in Aachen

Recently, the Servigistics Customer Advisory Group met in Aachen, Germany to continue a tradition of client interaction, knowledge sharing, service leadership and discuss the latest service parts optimization innovations.

Leslie Paulson, General Manager of the Servigistics Business Unit welcomes the Servigistics Customer Advisory Group to RWTH Aachen Campus and the European 4.0 Transformation Center.

Leslie Paulson, General Manager of the Servigistics Business Unit kicked off her keynote with great news to those in the Servigistics ecosystem – 2018 was the best year in history!

“Just 12 months ago in Stuttgart, Germany I publicly announced the formation of the Servigistics Business Unit. Together our team has delivered an amazing year full of client success and strategic milestones!”

Among the most notable milestones is Servigistics’ growing leadership in the industry. Major new client additions in 2018 included John Deere, Bobcat Doosan, Liebherr and US Army.

“For any service parts management vendor to win business from one of these leaders would be an accomplishment but for Servigistics to win them all is outstanding and a tribute to the significant value proposition,” said Paulson.

Servigistics industry leadership at a glance:

7 of the top 8, world’s largest aerospace manufacturers
4 of the 5 US Dept of Defense organizations
4 of the top 5 laptop manufacturers
5 of the top 7 construction equipment manufacturers
4 of the top 5 largest US airlines
3 of the top 5 medical device manufacturer

Bullwhip Effect

Referencing her 29-year career at Caterpillar, Leslie explored the concept of the bullwhip effect and the similarities to service parts optimization. While the bullwhip effect has traditionally been used with respect to a manufacturing supply chain, it is equally applicable to the service parts supply chain. The further away the OEM (and the OEM’s suppliers) are from the customer, the more variability there is in the demand signal. Additionally, as material flows from the OEM through the service parts supply chain stock it is built up along the way. This mismatch between information and stock creates inefficiencies. Increasing visibility to the real time information about the end user/asset via Connected Service Parts Management and leveraging that information in the multi-echelon optimization and parts planning processes are essential to minimizing the bull whip effect and reducing the resulting inefficiencies and costs.

Client Use Cases, Strategic Objectives

Success with any project begins with a use case and strategy. We invited two companies new to the Servigistics ecosystem to share their use case, business objectives and ambitions.

Airbus Defense & Space shared their strategic objectives for Servigistics Service Parts Pricing and how they plan to improve pricing policies and be more responsive to the high volatility of prices.

Liebherr shared their vision for Servigistics Service Parts Management and optimizing their global network planning with rules and policies that add efficiency and improve fill rate.

(Left) Juan Antonio Alonso Shihuro shares insights on service parts planning strategies at Airbus Defense & Space.
(Right) Andreas Gottler shares insights on Liebherr's service parts management strategy.

European 4.0 Transformation Center Tours

We selected the location for our Servigistics Customer Advisory Group very carefully. On the RWTH Aachen Campus, the European 4.0 Transformation Center combines a unique blend of hands-on implementations and strategic exploration. This is the perfect intersection to gather Servigistics clients to explore existing technology and sharpen their vision of future trends and technological capabilities.

PTC is a proud member of the E4TC community along with a congregation of other innovative organizations.

(Left) Yannick Filke showcases the FlowServe Pump demonstration at the European 4.0 Transformation Center as members of the Servigistics Customer Advisory Group participate.
(Right) Dietrich Baumann delivers a tour at the European 4.0 Transformation Center to members of the Servigistics Customer Advisory Group.

Servigistics 12.0 Release Anticipation

Attendees got a firsthand look at Servigistics’ most powerful functionalities from one of the industries most experienced leaders. Steven Caldwell, Vice President, Business Transformation facilitated the second half of the event dedicated to technical exploration:

Exploration of existing Servigistics capabilities including Multi-Echelon Optimization, Connected Service Parts Management and Demand Planning.
Introduction to exciting new capabilities available through Servigistics 12.0 release (available March 2019).

“PTC’s industry leading IoT platform ThingWorx has supercharged Servigistics to deliver innovative planning capabilities using connected data, machine learning and advanced analytics,” said Caldwell. This is the next frontier of innovation in service parts optimization delivering the ability to increase forecast accuracy by 30%!

(Left) Steven Caldwell, Vice President Business Transformation delivers a presentation to the Servigistics Customer Advisory Group
(Right) Servigistics clients discuss opportunities for service parts management innovations.

It was a very successful event! Leslie said it best,
“our fortified network of service leaders includes our clients, partners and a vast network of experts. Interacting regularly with these innovators helps Servigistics maintain a fast pace of innovation and deliver value to our clients.”