In many companies, technical service has evolved organically, often characterized by proven, manual processes. Technicians travel to customer sites to analyze and maintain machines. Hotline inquiries are handled individually, sometimes without a standardized ticketing system. Information on machine histories or fault patterns exists, but it’s often stored decentrally – in emails, Excel spreadsheets, or based on personal experience.

While this approach has become ingrained over the years and still forms the backbone of many service organizations, these structures are noticeably reaching their limits. This is due to increasing internationalization, a persistent shortage of skilled labor, compliance and regulatory requirements like NIS2 and CRA, and the resulting pressure for digitalization. Response times are lengthening, organizational effort is growing, and at the same time, the potential for digital, scalable service offerings remains largely untapped.

Furthermore, in many companies, the service department is still primarily viewed as a supporting function – a classic Cost Center that mainly ties up resources. This is understandable: as long as processes are heavily reliant on individuals and lack digital support, efficiency gains are limited, and economic scaling is hardly possible.

What’s often missing is a clear structure to systematically design services, map them transparently, and develop them as a strategic business area. Because only when services are understood as an independent product – with a defined scope of services, value proposition, and monetizable benefits – can service evolve from a cost factor into a true value driver.

The symmedia Hub offers machine manufacturers a powerful, cloud-based IIoT platform specifically tailored to the demands of modern service organizations. As a central component of digital transformation, the Hub not only enables the digital mapping of individual processes but also the systematic development of the entire service business – securely, scalably, and certified.

At its core is the structured management of all customer machines in the form of digital twins – regardless of their year of manufacture, control system, or connectivity. This allows service organizations to maintain a constant overview of their installed machine base, including technical details, location information, maintenance status, and service history. Machine data can even be recorded and maintained automatically – for example, through synchronization with existing SAP systems or based on standardized AAS repositories (Asset Administration Shell).

Service contracts can be centrally linked. In combination with the integrated Service Case Management, manufacturers gain an effective tool for internal control of service teams and transparent collaboration with customers. Whether it’s ticket assignment, chat communication, whiteboards, or seamless audit trails – all interactions are documented, traceable, and available independently of location.

Furthermore, an AI agent is being developed. It will not only offer intelligent support in service cases based on past service cases, documentation, and chat histories, but it will also be available to your entire organization – for example, as a Microsoft Teams integration. This means questions about customers, machines, or service data can be answered directly and contextually – a real efficiency booster for your organization.

Beyond this, the symmedia Hub supports the distribution of individual apps – for example, for condition monitoring, performance analyses, or predictive maintenance – and also offers flexible solutions for data acquisition. With tools like Telegraf or Node-RED, these applications can be precisely configured to specific requirements. The collected machine and process data can not only be processed locally but also provided cloud-based – for instance, in an InfluxDB – for further analysis and use.

This is complemented by comprehensive Remote Access functionalities, which allow secure access to machine components down to the control level. Via the SSC Data Link Tunnel, service experts can, for example, gain access to the machine’s control level – directly from a distance, without time-consuming travel.

From digital twins to service contract management and secure remote access – a whole new scope of action emerges for machine manufacturers and operators: Service becomes a scalable product portfolio.

The symmedia Hub provides the technological foundation to define digital services modularly, provide them specifically, and make them accessible to the customer via a central platform. Classic support tasks can be digitally integrated, as can advanced use cases like remote maintenance, condition monitoring, or document provision. The technical delivery and access control of these services happen seamlessly via the Hub – securely, role-based, and tenant-capable.

The digitalization of technical service is no longer a future topic – it’s a strategic success factor. Machine manufacturers and operators who invest in digital service infrastructure today lay the foundation for scalable growth, sustainable customer loyalty, and efficient resource utilization.

That this transformation also pays off economically was already confirmed by a McKinsey study from 2019: Companies with digitized aftermarket services achieve up to 60% higher margins and reduce unplanned machine downtimes by 30-50%. Source: McKinsey – Aftermarket Services: The near-term growth opportunity 

With the symmedia Hub, a field-proven tool is available to not only technologically support this transformation but also to enable it organizationally and regulatorily.

Manufacturers gain:

• Growth potential through new digital service offerings

• Scalability without having to employ proportionally more personnel

• Competitive advantages through faster, more efficient, and more connected customer service

Operators gain:

• Faster service and shorter downtimes through digital support processes

• Complete transparency regarding machine conditions, service contracts, and histories

• Higher operational safety and efficiency through standardized, automated processes

Instead of fragmented processes, a unified, expandable platform emerges – one that transforms service from a cost factor into a strategic value driver.

DOMINIK HELDT 
Vice President Service & After-Sales
RENA Technologies GmbH
Manufacturer of Wet-Chemical Processes

Curious of what symmedia Hub can do for you?
Contact our sales team for more information.

sales@symmedia.de
+49 (0)521 9665 50