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Biesse Group IIoT builds new revenue streams

GENERATING
GREATER VALUE
FROM MACHINES

The next industrial revolution is here, and Biesse Group wanted to seize the opportunities it offers. With Accenture’s partnership, the manufacturer pioneered an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solution to build new, robust aftermarket services for its machines.

Biesse Group is a global leader in manufacturing technology for processing wood, glass, stone, plastic and metal. It chose Accenture to help build the business case, operating model and IIoT cloud-based solutions over a five-year contract.

The IIoT connected asset management solution was built using the Accenture Connected Platforms as a Service (CPaaS) IoT platform on Microsoft Azure.

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) presents numerous opportunities for market growth and cost savings that Biesse Group is keen to capture. By implementing connected asset management across its industrial machinery, the company wanted to improve operational efficiencies, improve customer experience, reduce costs, and open up new revenue streams such as machine usage analysis and production process optimization. Biesse Group’s customers are interested in new digital capabilities, and the company took the lead in developing a range of services that could help improve the performance of its customers’ machinery and overall productivity.

SOLUTION

To make this transformation, Biesse Group chose Accenture’s Industry X.0 and Connected Asset Management for Manufacturing capabilities. Together they designed an IIoT operating model, business case, solution and roadmap using the Accenture Connected Platforms as a Service (CPaaS) on a Microsoft Azure IoT platform. The platform’s flexible architecture and preconfigured IoT services enabled the team to reduce the overall program complexity and duration using pre-built and pre-configured architectures, technologies and APIs.

This enabled Biesse Group to deploy a pilot solution and mobile app to clients after only five months, followed by a full rollout. The platform is available on more than 15 Biesse machine models encompassing different areas like Wood and Glass & Stone.

The first set of services includes preventive maintenance alerts, machine management, manufacturing events analysis and remote diagnostics, and remote software distribution. Biesse’s Service Department receives notifications about machine performance, enabling them to proactively contact customers to pre-empt or handle machine outages. Sensors and devices on the machines produce in-depth key performance indicator and usage analytics. This information is displayed on easy-to-view dashboards using Microsoft Power BI data visualization on mobile devices. The performance reports are periodically shared with customers, and the machine’s technical documentation can be accessed via the app.

Biesse’s customers use a pay-per-use model and customize the services they receive from machine alerts. They also benefit from advanced services like in-depth machine analytics that improve overall equipment effectiveness and productivity. The IIoT platform has been released to approximately 25 countries globally, including wood, glass and stone subsidiaries; dealers; and end customers.

INDUSTRY X.0 INNOVATION CENTER IN MODENA

Accenture is investing significantly in Industry X.0 capabilities like the Industry X.0 Innovation Center in Modena. The Center hosts a real manufacturing plant in the heart of Italy’s manufacturing region. It consists of a shopfloor with real working machines where companies can use connected devices and collaborative ecosystems to explore solutions for improving efficiency and productivity, transforming operating models, and developing new business opportunities.

RESULTS

With its new IIoT platform, Biesse Group is offering customers value-added services—and gaining new revenue streams. Response times for machine outages are now 50% faster, and customers can get diagnostic information 60% quicker. In addition, “first-time fix” metrics—whereby the technician is able to fix the issue the first time—increased by nearly 90%.

The new services are helping Biesse:

  • Improve customer communications, service and loyalty
  • Offer quicker response times
  • Reduce warranty and maintenance costs
  • Obtain real-time customer data and alerts
  • Access priority helpdesk services

Biesse can use performance and usage insights from the field to improve product development, adding features that would be beneficial to the customer. These insights also enable the company to develop closer customer relationships by providing suggestions on how to get the most from their machines; this positions Biesse as an ecosystem partner working closely with customers to improve production.

Customers are benefiting from the flexible menu of services and transparent view into machine performance to improve machine productivity. Predictive maintenance and in-depth analytics are also helping to increase uptime—and customer satisfaction. The 1,000th connected machine will be rolled out at the HolzTec Handel wood factory. Biesse Group is among the first in the industry to reach this connected machine figure—and the number will continue to grow.

Thanks to its advanced IIoT capabilities, Biesse Group is giving customers more control over its machines and gaining competitive differentiation.




“Accenture is helping Biesse Group shift from a product-oriented to a service-oriented manufacturer that helps customers generate greater value from our machines. We are able to offer our customers a menu of features from remote diagnostics, warnings and alerts to condition-based/predictive maintenance services and usage analysis, plus more sophisticated production process optimization capabilities. These services also augment our aftermarket business with new revenue streams and make us stand out from our competitors.”
STEFANO PORCELLINI
Managing Director, Biesse Group


“Since 2017, we have undertaken a challenging digital transformation journey to generate greater value from machines with Accenture’s help. Connecting the 1,000th machine in less than two years from the launch of our IIOT platform is an important event for Biesse Group and demonstrates once more our commitment to customer satisfaction. We are really proud to be one of the few companies in the industry that has reached this milestone.”
STEFANO CALESTANI
Service Innovation Director, Biesse Group
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