Splunk Inc, reports that Zeppelin GmbH, is using Splunk Enterprise to reduce the risk of factory shutdowns and predict machinery and equipment maintenance.
Zeppelin provides solutions in the following areas: construction machinery, mining machinery, agricultural machinery, rental machinery, construction logistics, construction site management, drive, propulsion, traction and energy, engineering, and plant engineering. It also develops new digital business models for the construction sector. The Zeppelin Group has 190 sites in 35 countries and generated a sales volume of 2.75 billion euros in the 2017 financial year; more than 8,000 employees (including trainees) contributed to this success.
Zeppelin uses the Splunk platform to analyse the performance of every single spark plug in its combined heat and power (CHP) plants. Algorithms built with Splunk Machine Learning Toolkit identify possible machinery faults ahead of time and provide a warning to avoid a potential shutdown. Zeppelin is also using Splunk Enterprise to ensure it has a centralised overview of all the machine data from its 25,000 Caterpillar machines loaned out to customers, providing better visibility back to the business on areas like usage levels.
“Equipment outages are incredibly costly on manufacturing floors and out in the field. Zeppelin’s Service Centre uses the Splunk platform to predict issues ahead of time so we can preemptively send service technicians to maintain our customers’ equipment and machines before a fault occurs,” says Rene Ahlgrim, data scientist at Zeppelin.
“Splunk Enterprise has generated immediate business value for Zeppelin and our customers. We have increased the uptime and lifecycle of our equipment, made our customers happier, and reduced costs that impact our bottom line.”
In addition to predictive maintenance, Zeppelin extended its Splunk license to absorb more data from its VMware, Nutanix and SAP systems. The team are creating patterns in the data they index in Splunk, building baselines for KPI’s such as CPU and memory and by looking in the log files, Zeppelin can detect any anomalies in the data. The Splunk platform has optimised application and operating system performance across the entire group.
“The Internet of Things holds great promise, but it’s not valuable if you can’t optimise it to secure the insights you need to maintain a competitive edge. Data can create outcomes that are a strategic edge to any business – helping to predict plant failures, foreshadow equipment problems and create new opportunities,” adds Richard Timperlake, vice president of EMEA, Splunk.
“Zeppelin’s investment in data analytics and Machine Learning with Splunk is creating big returns for the company and its customers. After all, nobody wants the piece of equipment they have rented to break down and Zeppelin’s use of data to ensure that doesn’t occur is an example of digital transformation at its best.”
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