PILLER: Service in the fourth dimension

The high-performance blowers from PILLER for the process industry meet the highest demands. The hidden champion from Moringen in Lower Saxony offers its customers not only first-class products but also outstanding service. IoT technologies from SAP play an important role in this.

PILLER is a global player in two senses. On the one hand, the company is a global leader in the manufacture of high-performance blowers. On the other hand, the medium-sized company’s products are used all over the world. PILLER supplies around 85% of its machines abroad.

Thanks to IoT, PILLER customers can monitor their machines no matter where they are in the world.

Customer-specific solutions

Just as diverse as the geographical locations are the industries that rely on the special machines - from the pharmaceutical to the chemical to the food industry. The special: Each blower produced is unique and explicitly manufactured to customer specifications. The high-end machines thus meet the specific requirements of the various industries and are seamlessly integrated into the production processes of the customers.

The demands on the blowers are high. The most important criterion is permanent availability, because the blowers perform production-critical tasks: In the worst case, if they fail, production comes to a complete standstill. Regular checks and preventive measures are supposed to ensure the greatest possible reliability. As a technology leader in special mechanical engineering, PILLER not only manufactures and supplies blowers, but also offers innovative and competent services to support its customers’ business in the best possible way.

Various data about the high-performance blowers can be retrieved via app.

Higher efficiency with the Internet of Things

The high degree of individualization of the blowers and their distribution throughout the globe are challenging conditions for an excellent service. Therefore, PILLER is constantly looking for technological innovations in order to meet its own requirements even better. In this context, Industry 4.0 offers considerable potential. This is why PILLER is consistently aligning its service processes towards the Internet of Things (IoT) with the help of SAP solutions. The SAP Cloud Platform, the C/4HANA Sales and Service Cloud and S/4HANA Enterprise Management as the core system form the basis. SAP Leonardo's IoT portfolio will be integrated step by step into this existing IT landscape so that PILLER customers benefit from predictive maintenance and efficient service.

The machine manufacturer equips its blowers with sensors that permanently record data and send it to the SAP cloud via an IoT connection. If the system detects irregularities or exceedances during the evaluation of the sensor data, several processes are automatically triggered: the creation of a ticket in the service portal, the notification of the customer and a message to the PILLER service, which then initiates the necessary steps. Due to the seamless integration of the IT landscape, all relevant information is passed on from the sensor message to the S/4HANA system, and the current data is available everywhere. Since customers can access the IoT portal at any time, they have the greatest possible transparency regarding the condition of their machines.

If the temperature exceeds a predetermined value, a ticket is automatically created in the SAP Service Cloud.

Act before something happens

With SAP Leonardo, potential problems with blowers can be identified early on. This provides the service technicians with valuable time to replace the affected components, for example, before a failure actually occurs. At the same time, PILLER is able to plan the technicians’ on-site visits economically and to ensure the best possible utilization of existing capacities. If a ticket is generated via the IoT, the responsible technician receives a push notification directly on his smartphone. The technician is thus informed of the potential problem as quickly as possible and has all information available on the move to investigate the matter more closely.

The predictive maintenance based on sensor data minimizes the downtime of the blowers, which can fulfil their actual task even better: to contribute to a smooth production process for PILLER customers and to optimize their business.

Photo: Piller Blowers & Compressors GmbH