Kubota Develops a Smartphone App that Streamlines Troubleshooting of Construction Machinery
December 21, 2020
Kubota Corporation
Kubota Corporation (Head Office: Naniwa-ku, Osaka, Japan; President and Representative Director: Yuichi Kitao; hereinafter, “Kubota”) announced today that it has developed Kubota Diagnostics, an app to diagnose failures in construction machinery. The app streamlines the failure diagnosis process to reduce downtime of the faulty machinery. It also helps improve the quality of after-sales service by efficiently collecting information about the nature of the fault. Kubota will launch the app in the U.S. from December 2020, with plans for successive rollouts in global markets from 2021.
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Augmented reality (AR: technology for overlaying virtual visual information onto actual scenes) is used to pinpoint fault locations.
1. Background and aims
- Because reduced utilization of construction machinery leads directly to falls in the user’s profitability, it is an important issue for manufacturers and dealers to minimize, as far as possible, machinery downtime resulting from faults.
- Faulty products are usually repaired by service technicians at dealerships. Typically, they diagnose failures by referring to online manuals, which not only consumes time but also, in many cases, requires making further calls to Kubota, resulting in prolonged machinery downtime.
- Kubota Diagnostics is a tablet/smartphone app designed for use by service technicians. It provides a diagnostic flow process for pinpointing failures based on error codes displayed on the driver’s control panel, and on actual symptoms. The app uses 3D models and AR to facilitate prompt, efficient fault diagnosis, which helps reduce machinery downtime.
- In addition, the app enables Kubota to efficiently collect information about the nature of any failure, which can be used to improve the quality of after-sales service, predict potential failures, and better reflect customer needs in future product developments.
- The service goes into operation in the U.S. from December 2020, with plans for successive rollouts in global markets from 2021.
2. Outline of app
| Name | Kubota Diagnostics |
|---|---|
| Applicable models | Compact Truck Loaders |
| Service launch | December 18 |
| Target regions | U.S. |
[ Key features ]
Step-by-step fault diagnosis
- The app automatically displays inspection points and repair procedures upon entry of the error code or fault symptom generated by the machine, resulting in quick and efficient diagnosis.
Up-to-date information
- Product and fault information can be shared with technicians in real time to help improve work efficiency and facilitate training for unskilled technicians.
3D models and AR
- Technicians can reference guidance on fault locations, based on 3D models and AR, by pointing the smartphone camera at the product, thereby improving work efficiency.
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Compact Truck Loader
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User interface