How AI will transform the service organization of machine builders

Today, a lot is expected from machine manufacturers. To stand out in the market and run the organization more efficiently, the focus is increasingly shifting toward the service department and its proposition. In other industries, it’s been clear for years that excellent customer service makes the difference. Think of companies like Amazon and Zalando, which win market share through their service-first approach.

A strong service organization ensures calm and clarity within a company:

• Developers can focus on innovation without being disturbed.
• Service engineers are scheduled efficiently and work effectively.
• Customers receive fast, adequate support, preventing complaints from escalating into ongoing issues.
• Sales benefits from the trust that has been built, making it easier to sell new installations.
• New employees are onboarded faster in a company where processes are well organized.

The challenge: too much data, too little overview

Machines are becoming more advanced, variants are multiplying and the number of components keeps growing. On top of that, more and more information is generated: documentation, service tickets, maintenance history and – increasingly – machine data. Think of alarms, hour counters, production and batch information, energy consumption, software version history, and security logs.

This flood of information is no longer manageable for humans. Even if it were, the repetitive nature of the task would inevitably lead to errors.

What’s needed is simplicity. A system that creates clarity, and is easy to use and understand for everyone.

AIoT: the combination of AI and IoT

A concept that is gaining ground here is AIoT: Artificial Intelligence of Things. IoT functions as the nervous system that collects all data, while AI acts as the brain that processes it, understands the context, recognizes patterns, and – where appropriate – takes action without human intervention.

The benefits are significant:

• Accuracy: large datasets can be analyzed flawlessly.
• Predictive power: expensive interventions and downtime can be prevented with algorithms.
• Cost savings: maintenance can be scheduled more efficiently.
• Customer satisfaction: customers receive faster, more accurate support.

IXON is investing heavily in AI and is convinced that it will drastically improve the effectiveness and efficiency of service organizations in the years to come.

IXON’s AI assistant: simplicity and clarity

Within IXON Cloud, machines are modeled as digital twins. Incoming data is processed immediately and enriched with context. For this, ‘skills’ are available in the form of apps, for example, alarm management, settings tracking, wear & tear monitoring or state analysis. These apps are available through the IXON Marketplace and can be developed both by IXON and third parties.

At the heart of this system is the AI assistant. As part of IXON Core, it has access to all information within the IXON company account. From documents and service tickets to real-time machine data: the AI assistant understands, interprets and presents this information in a clear way.

Thanks to the MCP protocol, the AI assistant can communicate with internal apps. Apps describe in natural language what they can do, after which the AI determines which information is relevant to provide a complete answer to the user. This makes the system increasingly powerful and useful over time.

^{The communication between Digital Twin and AI Assistant via MCP Protocol.}

Why IXON’s AI assistant is unique

• Specifically designed for machine service organizations
• Access to structured data with the right context
• Integrated within the trusted, secure, and scalable IXON Core