by Josh Simi, on October 13, 2015
For many industrial applications like engine designs for mobile landscaping or street sweeping equipment, enterprises often have limited knowledge about product quality outside of product returns and consumer reviews. Remotely monitoring devices and equipment via an IoT platform provides an opportunity to create value by understanding product quality at a deeper level, including:
Improved product quality insights.
Traditionally, software quality metrics are determined prior to product launch and are then combined with failure rates in the field using metrics such as mean time between failure (MTBF) measurements, product return rates, and industry/consumer reviews. By implementing remote device health and IoT performance monitoring, it is possible to better characterize and understand product defect arrival patterns and causes through the collection and analysis of data. Remote firmware upgrades can then be rolled out as needed to address any issues.
Deeper product performance insights.
If a product fails but is not returned, or a user experience is poor but not poor enough to elicit a public review, customers may switch to competing products without the OEM knowing. Adding low-cost sensors or measurement points to a connected product offering can help OEMs understand at a deep level how the product is operating and where product defects or performance degradations may be occurring in the field
Better intelligence about UX performance issues.
Product features for connected products extend beyond the physical devices, with complex user interfaces and interaction patterns. With Exosite’s enterprise IoT platform, organizations have ability to measure and report what the customer journey looks like across an entire product fleet can lead to product quality insights about how to make the product function more reliability and in a way that is most relevant to the user.
Extended software quality assurance lifecycle.
Traditional software verification and validation activities follow either a “V” model, where testing is primarily conducted at the end of product development, or in a “test-driven” model, where tests are written near the beginning of product development and matured through product launch. Connected product fleets allow testing to be extended beyond the development process into the product lifecycle, where it is in service and being used by real users.
Improved software quality assurance on next-generation designs.
Detailed measurements on the performance of connected products and services can help improve not only the current product fleet but also future ones. The collection of highly accurate product performance and user experience data can be gold mines for product design teams working on the next best thing.
Quality has a direct effect on brand trust, customer loyalty, and ultimately the ability to monetize a product offering. With traditional durable goods, product quality was nearly 100% based on how well and how long the physical product performed. In the new connected device economy, mobile user interfaces, interconnected products, and novel usage modes all have the ability to directly affect the financial performance of the product offering and should be included in IoT business modeling activities for connected product fleets.
For more information regarding incorporating IoT for real time device information and quality product assurance for next generation design improvements, download our IoT monetization strategies white paper:
