Manufacturing Showcase
Help Lightning/ Cincinnati, Inc.
By Russ Willcutt
E
very member of the team at a manufacturing facility plays a crucial and indispensable role in the operation’s overall success, but no one more so than those responsible for keeping the machine tools not only up and running, but doing so at maximum capacity. Downtime must be avoided at all costs, and should it occur, it must be remedied ASAP. But even the most ironclad of service contracts generally require site visits by a technician, sometimes requiring travel, and other related delays. Meanwhile, frustration builds at the plant as questions go unanswered and production backs up. Wouldn’t it be great if that plant service manager had an OEM tech expert in his or her pocket at all times to walk them through sticky situations immediately? Help Lightning, of Birmingham, Alabama, markets a patented technology known as “Remote Expertise” that allows just that type of interaction between those who service, operate, and maintain various equipment on the front lines and OEM experts who can provide immediate answers to questions via smart devices in an interactive manner; meaning hands appear onscreen manipulating the parts in question, circles and arrows can be drawn illustrating points being made in the conversation, and the proper
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18 IMD MARCH 2020
nomenclature for what’s being discussed can be clarified visually, avoiding unnecessary confusion. Gary York, CEO, says the technology was developed by a neurosurgeon at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s (UAB) Medical Center and was initially used in maintaining medical and other complex equipment. “We launched the technology in 2016, and we refer to what we’re providing as ‘Remote Expertise,’” he says. “It brings the OEM’s technical professional and the manufacturer’s service personnel in direct contact immediately using the smartphones and tablets most of
