Next-Level System Maintenance: How Lifetime Services Leverage Data Insights
A consistent goods-to-person operation is the key to maintaining a competitive edge in today’s unpredictable consumer marketplace. Supply chain efficiency and customer satisfaction hinge on fast, flexible, and reliable throughput. Warehouse automation makes this possible, but even the most innovative systems require expert logistics services that incorporate real-time monitoring and data-driven maintenance. The result is optimal system performance, maximum uptime, and long-term return on investment (ROI).
TGW Logistics’ Lifetime Services goes much further than reactive maintenance services when something breaks. It’s a proactive, analytical approach to dependable logistics performance. We use metrics to guide preventive action and support continuous improvement, so your company gets the most out of your automation investment.
Why Maintenance Services Matter More Than Ever
Consumer expectations are stringent. Product variety, omnichannel ordering, and fast delivery are key drivers of customer loyalty. As personalized customer experiences continue to evolve and delivery times get shorter, people’s expectations will get more demanding.
Automation uptime is a key differentiator in competitive fulfillment, particularly in the consumer goods and fashion logistics sectors. Companies must maintain an agile goods-to-person operation that accommodates seasonal spikes, product variability, and high-volume throughput.
In the consumer goods and fashion sectors, system downtime throws everything out of balance and has the potential to create a ripple effect throughout the entire fulfillment process. Even a short downtime can lead to fulfillment delays, lost revenue, higher operating costs, a congested returns process, and customer churn.
Prioritizing predictive maintenance is the most effective way to prevent this. By gathering and analyzing data in real time, automated fulfillment centers can anticipate system failures before they occur and take proactive steps to avoid them. Doing so supports continuous operational productivity, lowers long-term maintenance costs, and increases the lifespan of automated systems.
Key Metrics Driving Smarter System Maintenance
Proactive automation maintenance shouldn’t be a guessing game. It needs to be data-driven and strategic. At TGW Logistics, our Lifetime Services model is built on maintaining long-term reliability, and data can make that possible.
On resident sites, we monitor and analyze key metrics to inform preventative maintenance services. This can be more challenging in field service situations, as many customers prefer to limit analysis times due to costs. Plus, available data can vary. However, when data is shared, improvements and preventative maintenance are possible without full-time on-site support.
It’s important to focus on metrics that have the most impact on a system’s operability.
This metric shows the average time a piece of automated equipment operates successfully before experiencing a failure. MTBF provides a bird’s-eye view of a system’s reliability and helps create a benchmark for predictive maintenance, allowing us to anticipate and prevent downtime.
Strategically planning downtime to conduct preventive maintenance and make system upgrades is essential to the long-term performance of automated systems. Tracking incidents of unplanned downtime helps spot system failure trends. This metric informs proactive maintenance initiatives that improve overall equipment performance.
This KPI shows the number of orders moving through the material handling process each hour. A drop in TPH could indicate an equipment issue, allowing for proactive maintenance to return the system to optimal performance. We also use TPH to determine the best time for planned maintenance.
Automated systems must operate at maximum capacity in high-volume sectors such as consumer goods and fashion. The asset utilization metric indicates the percentage of time each piece of automated equipment is actively engaged. A sudden drop in asset utilization could indicate equipment issues that can be resolved through proactive maintenance. Equipment with consistently high asset utilization may require more frequent inspections and parts replacement than equipment with lower uptime.
Every automated logistics system has unique requirements. Our Lifetime Services experts determine which KPIs are the most critical based on the automation technology in use and throughput level. Our goal is to help you achieve optimal uptime through ongoing data-driven maintenance.
From Sensors to Strategy: Turning Data Into Action
Analyzing key KPIs provides the first layer of protection against system downtime. However, there are ways to conduct more in-depth monitoring and use granular metrics to inform strategic predictive maintenance.
TGW Logistics utilizes innovative technology to identify system inefficiencies and plan for targeted maintenance services. Our tools include:
- Internet of Things (IoT): Automated systems are equipped with IoT sensors that monitor equipment performance and track key performance indicators (KPIs) associated with overuse, part deterioration, and malfunction.
- Digital Twins: This state-of-the-art technology creates a real-time model of an automated system, allowing for failure simulations that inform preventive maintenance strategies.
- Warehouse Management System (WMS) Diagnostics: WERX Analytics empowers our experts to identify system issues, determine their root cause, and initiate proactive maintenance.
These tools enable TGW Logistics to provide maintenance insights based on each facility’s unique operating profile. By monitoring the health of all automated equipment, we support end-to-end performance reliability.
Tailored Support, Long-Term Value
Maintaining your automated system isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Each warehouse and fulfillment center is different, which means no two maintenance strategies look the same.
TGW Logistics' Lifetime Services provide scalable support that grows in tandem with your business and adapts to changes in demand.
Our Lifetime Services include:
- On-Site Services: Our support experts work at your facility, providing tailored maintenance services, operational support, and technical system cleaning to help you achieve seamless operational success.
- Remote Services: We can help minimize downtime at your facility with remote software monitoring and expert support anytime you need it.
- Spare Parts Services: We’ll create a spare parts package tailored to your system design and operational requirements, ensuring you always have replacement parts readily available.
- Field Services: Get hands-on maintenance support when you need it from our experienced technicians who know how to keep your system running at peak performance.
- Training Services: Knowledge is power. We offer expert training tailored to your unique needs, so you can be assured your team is working safely and efficiently.
- Retrofit and Extension Services: A dynamic business environment also demands flexibility of your intralogistics system. Our Retrofit and Extension Services expert make sure your system matches your needs in the long-run.
TGW Logistics works closely with you to determine the best maintenance plan for your facility. Our goal is to maximize the lifecycle of each automated system, ensuring you enjoy operational continuity and increase your long-term ROI.
Lifetime Services in Action
Consumer goods and fashion supply chains are complex and unpredictable. Diverse product offerings and industry trends lead to ever-changing SKUs, making inventory management increasingly challenging. Seasonal spikes and demand volatility require sudden shifts in labor planning and automation. Companies in these sectors struggle to maintain operational continuity without proactive system maintenance.
TGW Logistics’ Lifetime Services enhance the value of your system by integrating data insights and predictive maintenance services into your infrastructure.
Benefits include:
- Pinpointing and correcting system issues in advance reduces the chance of system failure during peak seasons.
- On-site support and proactive maintenance keep systems running and optimal levels.
- Spare parts management ensures fast replacement when equipment fails.
- Analytics help spot system inefficiencies and inform maintenance planning, enabling systems to handle high-volume throughput.
- Real-time monitoring promotes system health and fewer operational disruptions.
- System upgrades enable fast scalability without requiring significant system investments.
Regardless of your system requirements and business goals, Lifetime Services makes continuous uptime possible. It’s our mission to help you get the most out of your system and maximize your automation investment.
Put Our Maintenance Services and Logistics Consulting to Work for You
TGW Logistics isn’t just an automation vendor; we’re a partner that grows alongside you. We believe data-driven maintenance drives broader operational insights. That's why our Lifetime Services technicians don’t fix what’s broken and call it a day—they use analytics and real-time monitoring to help your system evolve.
Ready to embrace long-term success through automation efficiency and downtime reduction? Our Lifetime Services team is here to help you keep things running smoothly and efficiently, long after go-live.
Let’s talk about how TGW Logistics can support your operation today and into the future.
TGW Logistics is a foundation-owned company headquartered in Austria and a global leader in warehouse automation and warehouse logistics. As a trusted systems integrator with more than 50 years of experience, we deliver end-to-end services: designing, implementing, and maintaining fulfillment centers powered by mechatronics, robotics, and advanced software solutions. With over 4,500 employees spanning Europe, Asia, and North America, we combine expertise, innovation, and a customer-centric dedication to help keep your business growing. With TGW Logistics, it's possible to transform your warehouse logistics into a competitive advantage.
