Standing on stage at the World of Volvo, I felt genuinely proud. Not just of what we have built at Volvo Group over eight decades of remanufacturing, but of the fact that the world is finally ready to hear this story. Most people think of Volvo as the trucks on the highway, or perhaps the bus that takes their
It’s 2030. A major customer has drastically shifted its demand forecast. Simultaneously, a critical supplier in Southeast Asia reports a disruption affecting your supply chain. Your production lines are already running at 94% capacity. Before your operations team finishes reviewing the alerts, three things have already happened: Your AI system has analyzed demand signals, supplier
1. Understand your data The first step to avoid demand forecasting errors and biases is to understand your data. You need to know the sources, quality, granularity, frequency, and seasonality of your data. You also need to check for outliers, missing values, and inconsistencies that can skew your forecasts. You should use appropriate methods and
Capturing a customer need correctly is essential, but it is only the start. The organization must translate that need into coordinated action and maintain visibility until the expected outcome has been delivered. A connected service request lifecycle gives teams a continuous path from intake to planning, execution, and resolution. It keeps the original customer need
Customers rarely contact a service organization with a perfectly defined job plan. They describe a problem, request an outcome, or ask for a service. The organization must then determine what response is required and how it should be delivered. Service request management creates the structure for doing that consistently. It captures the need first, then
1. Prioritize Safety Safety is non-negotiable in a manufacturing environment. When deciding on maintenance tasks, your first priority should always be to address any issues that could pose a risk to the health and safety of your workers. This includes repairing safety guards, emergency stops, and any other protective equipment. Ensuring that these elements are
It’s one thing to talk about sustainability. It’s another to embed it into the way your business actually works. That’s exactly what remanufacturing does. And if the word makes you think of dusty shelves, warranty parts, or “second best,” it’s time for a mindset shift. At a recent IFS webinar, a panel of experts broke
Every service activity starts with a need. An asset fails. A customer requires assistance. An inspection is due. Equipment needs maintenance. But how that need enters the organization matters. Choosing between work orders and service requests affects how accurately demand is captured, how consistently work is delivered, and how effectively teams meet operational and customer
1. Plan and schedule your preventive maintenance activities One of the key aspects of preventive maintenance is planning and scheduling your tasks according to the needs and priorities of your equipment and processes. You should use a preventive maintenance checklist or software to identify what, when, and how to perform each activity. You should also
Modernize at your pace without replacing everything Manufacturers are under pressure to do more than ever before. They need to improve productivity, increase resilience, adopt AI, automate operations, and meet growing customer and regulatory expectations. Yet for many organizations, the reality is that production still depends on decades-old equipment, disconnected systems, and complex operational environments
