Preventing Asset Failures with Remote Monitoring
The main showroom of a well-known luxury sports car manufacturer suffered from regular air-conditioning breakdowns due to the stress of cooling a large space under intense weather conditions. These asset failures cost them millions in lost sales.
The Problem: Without the showroom air-conditioning systems running constantly and reliably, there were frequent periods of building non-occupation – up to half a day at a time, with consequent disastrous effects. The showroom was not only losing millions in sales, they were also paying for ineffective planned maintenance and incurring damage to their image as a premium automobile manufacturer. This ordinary maintenance issue was costing an established brand time and money. Worst yet there was no foreseeable end in sight.
One of the key problem areas generally in buildings is Heating & Cooling systems – particularly crucial where prevailing weather is either extremely hot or extremely cold. These systems are complex and can break down frequently. With standard monitoring systems, owners/managers are unaware of the problem until the occupants complain, by which time it may take hours if not days to fix the problem.
The Solution: The Urbanise platform gives clients the insight and information necessary to prevent system failures. Being able to identify and deal with issues before they arise helps prevent failures before occupants are aware of them and before they have any damaging financial effects. We offer a wireless tracking system, which remotely monitors the health of key building systems, issuing alerts in time for preventative action to be taken. So we essentially prevent asset failure from occurring saving you time and money in maintenance monitoring and repair.
How it works: Small wireless sensors are applied to key building systems. They detect changes in vibration, temperature or water and report back to Urbanise’s central software platform in the Cloud. When a building system behaves erratically, an alarm is triggered and relayed to building maintenance personnel on their smart-phones. They then log into building sensors, identify the issue, respond, and can fix the problem in minutes without building occupants being any the wiser.
Urbanise Monitoring installations start from just US$10 per sensor per month. Sensors can be retrofitted into any building and accessed from any smart phone. Jobs for mobile maintenance personnel are only triggered by potential system failure alerts, minimising servicing costs.
The Recommendation: Urbanise advised the dealership to implement the monitoring sensors in their main showroom, which made a dramatic and immediate difference by helping them prevent any further asset failure. In fact the first time it was proven to work, the client immediately signed an agreement to roll it out across all 25 buildings in their portfolio.
The Results: The clients’ showroom environments are now cool, comfortable and constant all day long, maximising opportunities for sales throughout the working day. In addition, sales staff can concentrate on customer care instead of being distracted by Air-Con issues – perfect for generating top sales, revenues and profits