DOOSAN’S SMART X-CARE ENHANCES MACHINE TELEMATICS

By Eric Olson

CEG CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Doosan Infracore North America recently unveiled its new Smart X-Care telematics monitoring facility at the heavy equipment maker’s headquarters in Suwanee, Ga.

The Smart X-Care Machine Monitoring Center (MMC) is a centralized location that receives and disseminates machine telematics data as part of Doosan’s new and enhanced subscription-based offering to its customers.

Through the DoosanCONNECT telematics system, engineers and employees at the facility keep track of a Smart XCare subscriber’s machine on the program’s Dashboard to check for issues such as critical fault codes, upcoming or overdue service, and warranty expirations.

Stojan Arezina, an electrical engineer and the telematics division manager of Doosan, explained that the Korean manufacturer still offers most telematics services free of charge to its customers using their DoosanCONNECT smartphone app or by accessing the system on a Web browser.

Currently, the Smart-X Care service is available to owners of newly purchased Doosan construction equipment. The monthly fee is $19.99 per month, but once customers buy a new machine, they will receive a free, six-month introductory subscription. Thirty days before the free service is up, Doosan will send a notice alerting them to its expiration.

“I feel that the way we are implementing Smart X-Care is anything but pushy,” said Arezina. “Since everyone gets a six-month trial period, they have time to decide whether it is something from which they can benefit.”

New Service ‘Stepped-Up Level of Care’

Prior to the Smart X-Care MMC, the same data existed in the DoosanCONNECT telematics systems available to contractors and operators, he said. The difference now is the enhanced service has its own dedicated monitoring center and group of technicians as well as the Dashboard, or machine tracking system.

Arezina added that the MMC communicates with telematics personnel at Doosan’s equipment distributors to deliver critical information.

“It is right there on our big screen, and we can always reference it and share it in real time,” he said.

To address a machine issue, he said, “The Smart X-Care system itself actively sends messages to the customer and dealer. Then, the Doosan Telematics [DTM] team has an opportunity, based on what we are seeing on the big screen, to reach out to customers and dealers and see if they are not doing service because there are parts missing, or they are waiting on parts. It may be that we can provide more technical training. By getting more involved in that customer/dealer communication, hopefully Smart X-Care MMC is speeding help to each side.”

As he sees it, having DTM representatives engaged in the process shows Doosan’s “stepped up level of care for our customers and dealers,” according to Arezina. “It is more than we just sold you a machine and now you are on your own.”

Doosan also wants its Smart X-Care MMC to enable dealers to improve their service, generate more revenue via parts, use data that it actively sends them to predict what their machines will need and manage their parts and stock levels better, he said.

“They can see when we send them a message that ‘Hey, here is a list of the machines that are coming up for service.’ They can go back to their parts department and say, ‘These machines are due for service and will need these parts. Do we have them in stock, or do we need to order them?’”

Financial Benefits of Telematics Top Selling Point

Arezina joined the company last March, the latest engineer at the heavy equipment manufacturer to create solutions that save time and money for customers of Doosan’s diverse lines of construction and forestry machines.

(L-R): Todd Roecker, vice president of growth initiatives; Edward Song, CEO of Doosan Infracore North America; Young Cheul Cho, CEO of Hyundai Doosan Infracore; David Kam, director of sales planning & business development; and Zach Stallings, director of parts & service, all cut the ceremonial ribbon for the new Doosan Machine Monitoring Center where the company launched an enhanced, subscription-based telematics monitoring service called Smart X-Care.

see X-CARE page 68