With today’s growing desire for greater productivity and efficiency, manufacturing processes and equipment are being subjected to increased demands for additional capacity, testing accepted limitations. A total preventive and predictive maintenance program is absolutely essential to an efficient, reliable and safe production process. However, no matter how well-oiled and designed your preventive and predictive maintenance program is, every now and then, Murphy’s Law reminds us that things can go wrong. And when something does go wrong, the ability to prepare for, detect, respond and recover from any situation or emergency regardless of time, distance or network is mission critical. In this article, I discuss why organizations should embed collaboration into the DNA of maintenance; service and support workflows and the benefits of embracing and deploying video solutions outside of conference rooms. Leading organizations invest in Collaboration Technology Leading companies from various industries are deploying enterprise-grade collaboration solutions outside of boardroom and meeting rooms to reduce the risks affecting manufacturing operations, production quality, people safety or even business continuity. Suppliers and customers also leverage the technology to meet face-to-face during the development cycle, minimizing misunderstandings and the need for rework regardless of distance. This trend is noticeable in many industries such as Aerospace, Automotive, Consumer Packaged Goods, Energy and Utilities, Hi-Technology, Industrial Equipment, Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical, Mining, Oil and Gas, Textile and Fashion and Transportation. With collaboration technology, teams can meet face-to-face anywhere, in any environment they choose: on a factory floor, in an R&D lab, in a conference room, or on the road. The truth is two-thirds of R&D spending in the U.S. goes to manufacturing. In other countries, the percentage is even higher: 87 percent for Japan and China; 89 percent for Germany and South Korea. As spending on manufacturing has increased, product design and manufacturing processes have […]