With less time to calibrate and fix important equipment, diagnosis of equipment failure needs to be proactive and predictive, no longer reactive. Through the advent of AI and data-driven technologies, the shift has begun from reactive to proactive maintenance, and, in time, to predictive maintenance.

“Today, around 35% of all MR maintenance cases are solved predictively, while in IGT, it is 20%, and CT is 17%,” says Garry Jepp, head of Services Operations at Philips. “We are developing these capabilities fast to constantly improve the customer experience. If you can predict it, you can prevent it.”

The Philips Maintenance Services Remote Service solution provides reactive and proactive support and can be set up and running within 24 hours. This makes it possible to prevent issues before they occur and resolve 30% of customers’ cases remotely, supporting an overall first-time-right ratio of 80%.1.

To deliver this, Philips Remote Service constantly monitors system health, and its smart algorithms generate an alert if a potential future system issue is detected. The remote service engineer assigned to the case immediately begins to work on identifying and proactively fixing the issue, if possible, advising on future actions and proposed part changes.

The landscape for service parts is rapidly transforming, with automated logistics and digital technology making the process far more immediate and less manpower intensive. “In North America and Western Europe, our teams can get the service part – no matter how large or small – to its destination ready to be fitted within four hours, and we can serve 98.3% of the world within one day,” says John Schlanger, head of Service Parts Supply Chain, Philips Services and Solutions Delivery.

“We’ve brought the “Amazon effect” to healthcare, with advanced inventory management, automated zero touch and are closing the loop in terms of service parts sustainability.” And logistics optimization is just the start of an exciting period for service parts, which is experiencing a period of significant innovation, from platform standardization through digital printing and even digital twinning.

As data volumes in hospitals continue to grow, with information from more digital platforms, medical devices, wireless sensors and billions of mobile phones, understanding how to connect fleets of equipment and ensure their performance is strategically advantageous.

By leveraging more algorithms in hospital equipment fleets, opportunities will arise to design and develop new operating models such as pay-by-use or subscription-based services, where service activities can be dependent on the number of patients a hospital is treating.

The evolution of maintenance, of course, is also about the evolution of the service agreement, or maintenance contract. Gone are the days of signing on the dotted line and being tied to a service agreement that might not grow with your needs. As part of its partnership model, Philips Maintenance Services is committed to shared risk and increasing flexibility.