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Discovering the Future of Power Generation through Digital Innovation

Written by Fairbanks Morse | Wednesday, 05 Sep 2018

We live in a very connected world. The creation of social media and the advancement of technology have kept us more connected with people across the globe than ever before. To put this into perspective, here are some recent statistics regarding social media usage.

According to the Facebook newsroom, there were 1.47 billion daily active users on average for June 2018 and 2.23 billion monthly active users.

LinkedIn now boasts over 562 million users.

YouTube claims 1 billion hours of videos are watched on their site every single day and that users can navigate the site in 76 different languages.

 

In addition to providing insight into the immense interconnectedness of our society, these statistics tell us what a digital age we live in. Every day, we are able to see how the presence of technology impacts the way we live and the way we do business. We order products online and receive them quickly through online shopping platforms like Amazon, we connect with employers and find jobs online through websites like LinkedIn and Indeed, and we can even connect with and receive car rides from people in our city through ridesharing apps like Uber.

All of this information proves one thing - our world is continually changing and businesses are being forced to adapt. According to the 2018 State of Digital Business Transformation, 32% of IT decision-makers say that digital business has already helped their organization achieve revenue growth. Some sources claim that simply integrating technology into the business isn’t enough and that companies need to adopt a “digital-first” approach. According to a contributor on Forbes, start-ups can increase revenue by 34% relying on digital-first strategies, with all enterprises increasing revenue by 23% and 62% say delivering an excellent customer experience as measured by customer satisfaction scores defines success as a digital-first business.

Because of the digitization of our world, specific industries are also called to adapt to changing technology and business needs. Digital transformation has been defined in the 2018 State of Digital Business Transformation as “the use of third platform technologies to create value and competitive advantage through new offerings, new business models, and new relationships.” The distributed power sector is rapidly transforming into one that is defined by diversity in fuel and energy generation resources, digital innovation, and cloud-based services solutions.

 

The Transformation at Fairbanks

Fairbanks Morse prides itself on being an innovative company, one that strives to meet the needs of its customers. This is shown through our growth over the past 125 years. We went from producing windmills to patenting opposed piston engine technology to launching the fuel-efficient Trident OP®. Now, as the world moves forward in terms of digitalization and innovation, Fairbanks Morse is moving forward too. We are modernizing our business to meet the demands on an ever-changing society. Fairbanks Morse will be at the forefront of the distributed power sector transformation with the digitization and automation of its parts and services process, the creation of a virtual training institute, and its revolutionary PoweReliability-as-a-Service™ platform.

“Today, we are aggressively plotting the company’s future as a provider of reliable power through new digital platforms that enhance the capabilities of our engines and revolutionize the services and life cycle solutions that will extend life of our customers’ assets,” said Deepak Navnith, Fairbanks Morse president. “By embracing technologies like the cloud and the Internet of Things, we are taking a digital platform-based approach to extending the asset life of our power systems, increasing our responsiveness, and providing the agility needed to solve more of our customers’ power generation needs as the energy mix moves toward renewables and distributed generation.”

 

What are the specific initiatives Fairbanks is implementing to support digital innovation?

Fairbanks Morse will be digitally enabling its customers’ power generation systems with a retrofittable version of the PoweReliability-as-a-Service™ platform. This will enable the collection of real-time data from power systems and will transform the way Fairbanks Morse delivers valuable aftermarket parts and services, extending the life of assets that in many cases have been deployed for decades. Legacy power systems will then be cloud-enabled, which supports real-time monitoring by the Fairbanks Morse services team to help extend service life.

Moving forward, the company will be creating the industry’s only virtual training institute while also digitizing all technical services programs and publications to give broad, around-the-clock access to thousands of man hours of expertise. Fairbanks Morse is also creating advanced parts-recognition software to provide real-time access to power systems subject matter experts for interactive servicing.

“Our goal is to deliver value through digital innovation. Our vision is to deliver a powerful user experience from a customer’s first visit to our website that continues along their journey toward ongoing service, parts ordering, and lifecycle support,” said Kim Getgen, vice president of sales and marketing at Fairbanks Morse. “This comprehensive approach is built around a brand promise to exceed our customers’ expectations and conveys the values of a modern, technology-focused company that is disrupting the future of power generation, creating innovative solutions to 21st century business problems, and is committed to broadening global access to reliable electricity.”

 

 

FM | Blog

In the midst of digital innovation, Fairbanks Morse was looking to better connect with stakeholders to provide them with valuable content. With the launch of this new blog series initiative, we are able to share industry-wide information, product-specific best practices, pieces of company history, and more. Engines, power systems, and parts are not the entirety of our value as a company; we are providing knowledge to better educate our customers so they can make the most of their Fairbanks Morse engine or power system.

 We want to offer the content you are looking for. Please share your thoughts and suggestions in regards to this new initiative here. To read more blog posts by Fairbanks Morse, click here.

 

FM | About

For over 125 years, Fairbanks Morse has been powering the world forward with innovative distributed power generation solutions that deliver optimal performance in a wide range of applications from base load and standby in municipal, nuclear, and institutional facilities to locomotive engines, and naval and commercial-class ship propulsion and shipboard power. Reliable and dependable, their flagship Opposed Piston (OP) engine technology has been trusted for decades and has totaled over 100 million operating hours – many units with over 40 years of service. Learn more about how Fairbanks Morse is committed to delivering power where it is needed most in the world by visiting www.fairbanksmorse.com.

 

About EnPro Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NPO)

EnPro Industries, Inc. is a leader in sealing products, metal polymer and filament woundbearings, components and service for reciprocating compressors, diesel and dual-fuel enginesand other engineered products for use in critical applications by industries worldwide. For moreinformation about EnPro, visit www.enproindustries.com.