The challenge: developing new services for manufacturers
For 40 years, the Lille-based company Airflux has specialized in the distribution and maintenance of compressed air equipment, nitrogen generators, industrial extraction systems and chillers for both the industrial and medical sectors in compressed air, HVAC and energy optimization of installations. With 250 staff working across 32 service locations, Airflux operates throughout France, serving 15,000 customers nationwide.
Primarily made up of technical experts, Airflux had observed that designing new and innovative services would present a significant advantage in a highly competitive and strategic sector. In the industrial fluids sector, companies need to offer tools that facilitate continuous improvements in site security and maintenance – a feat made possible through the Internet of Things and its faithful sidekick: smart data processing.
The Orange proposal was the most technically relevant, while offering an attractive price point. The level of technical expertise vis-a-vis Splunk was another determining factor in our decision.
Thomas Muller, Head of Research and Development (R&D), Airflux
Opting for the technical expertise of digital and data
The Airflux Research & Development (R&D) department had been working on a data platform for several years and had trialed several possibilities with its customers – however, the firm’s management decided to call in Orange Business to get the project fully off the ground. The goal was to build a comprehensive service within the cloud, based on data collected by smart devices.
“We consulted several companies offering a variety of solutions,” explains Thomas Muller, Head of Research and Development at Airflux. “The Orange proposal was the most technically relevant, while offering an attractive price point. The level of technical expertise vis-a-vis Splunk was another determining factor in our decision.”
Enhanced detection with the Splunk data platform
“In our business, the data we manage is extremely heterogeneous. We needed a tool that was high performance, accessible, flexible – and above all – automatable.”
Handling huge amounts of data in real time, generating precise dashboards, supervising machine activity, anomaly detection, issuing alerts in the event of equipment malfunction: with Splunk, all this is now within reach for Airflux customers. Having access to this data saves precious time when servicing operations become necessary and makes it easier to carry out predictive maintenance of equipment.
New service based on data available in just five months
“It took only five months for our first customers to start enjoying the benefits of this new service,” Thomas Muller explains with pride. “We opted early on to use a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), which allowed us to trial a comprehensive functional environment and began producing results very quickly.”
All this serves to enrich the range of services made available to Airflux customers, boosting customer loyalty and satisfaction levels for good measure.