For the last two years, 3D printing industry giant 3D Systems has been looking into product launches in hardware, materials, and workflow, in order to create more opportunities for additional applications. 3D Systems President and CEO Vyomesh Joshi (VJ) mentioned this strategy again at RAPID + TCT in Texas last month, and highlighted a few examples.
For instance, the company has been focused on applications in the medical and dental fields for a while, and both the US Air Force and the US Navy will be utilizing its technology to reproduce older plane components and qualify metal 3D printing for warships. 3D Systems also recently introduced a new metal 3D printing system, along with an integrated metal 3D printing software platform.
Never one to just sit back and rest on its laurels, 3D Systems rallied after disappointing Q3 17 financial results and outlined a fairly aggressive approach to keeping its market leadership position. In keeping with the plan, the company recently made its newest announcement – it’s chosen the Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform by New York-based Aquant to increase field service efficiency through parts prediction.
“Advanced technology is key to continued growth for our business. By applying Aquant’s AI technology to our service processes, we believe we are taking a major step towards the vision of providing our customers with zero unplanned downtime,” said Mark Hessinger, the Vice President of Services for 3D Systems.
Aquant, an enterprise AI platform, learns the unique language of other enterprises through machine learning, and uses this knowledge to increase equipment uptime – what it refers to as Uptime as a Service. Its machine learning can provide a step-by-step troubleshooting process, which allows its customers to make faster, smarter decisions, driven by hard data, by taking Aquant’s recommendations for “predictive actionable service.”
The company uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms to quickly convert both historical unstructured and structured data into a helpful knowledge base. Aquant’s predictive AI can help elevate organizations by increasing first-time fixes on machines, which completely negates unplanned downtime.
Shahar Chen, Aquant’s CEO and Co-Founder, said, “We are honoured 3D Systems, one of the leading 3D printing companies in the world, has decided to partner with us. Our technology will allow 3D Systems to leverage all of the data they’ve gathered over the years to create an immediate improvement in speed and accuracy of issue diagnosis, achieve a significant increase in machine uptime, reduce operational costs and provide fast ROI.”
3D Systems will maximize its 3D printers’ uptime through Aquant’s innovative AI platform, which will allow the company to diagnose machine failures more accurately and quickly. Thanks to its increased productivity, 3D Systems will be able to save money by cutting out repeat service visits. In addition, Aquant analyzes historical item usage, so it’s better able to forecast any future demand.
According to the Aquant website, “Even the best experts cannot predict the exact parts and skills necessary to complete each job. In order to maximize machine uptime and increase first-time fix rate, Aquant’s machine learning algorithms predict which parts and skills are required for the job.”
The technicians at 3D Systems can call on Aquant’s technology to quickly diagnose 3D printer issues based on their report symptoms. In addition, the company will be able to better predict which parts will need service calls, escalate complex problems to the next level without delay. – basically letting Aquant take care of all of the heavy lifting.
It’s smart decisions like this – teaming up with Aquant to reduce 3D printer downtime – that keeps 3D Systems on top.
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