The Impact of AI on Asset Management: Present and Future of our EAM Solution

The technological evolution of recent times has not been the starting point of organizations’ efforts to improve their profit margins and reduce costs, but rather a response to that constant need to be more efficient and competitive. To advance in this direction, it is essential that companies maximize the availability of their assets and reduce costs while maintaining high operating standards. This is where artificial intelligence (AI) is positioned as a key ally for the present and future.

How is AI changing asset management? Demystifying myths

There is an overly grounded theory that AI in the world of asset management is limited to predictive maintenance, but the reality is that its potential goes far beyond that. In our Ultimo solution, for example, we are already applying AI to assist operators, technicians and maintenance managers in daily tasks, automating crucial procedures and offering a more intuitive and efficient experience.

As we see in this specific case, artificial intelligence is introducing a paradigm shift in the way we manage physical assets, opening up new possibilities to optimize processes, reduce response times and facilitate informed decision-making.

AI + Human Experience: Forming a Winning Team

Another of the great contributions of AI in this area is the improvement of the interaction between users and EAM systems, making them more accessible and agile. Thanks to generative models and natural language capabilities, users can obtain information, suggestions or even create operational content with a simple conversational query. An advantage that, in addition to saving time, allows maintenance teams to focus on activities of greater value to the organization.

Thus, AI in the EAM environment, among other things:

• Improves data quality and traceability, thanks to more structured and consistent entries.
• Offers contextual assistance to the user, adapted to the type of asset and the history of incidents.

Instead of replacing human experience, AI acts as a co-pilot that guides, suggests and helps to make better decisions.

What are the Current AI Functionalities in EAM Ultimo?

Currently, as I mentioned above, our EAM solution already incorporates AI functionalities that generate a real impact on field operations:

1. Automatic meter reading by image: to begin with, through computer vision, the AI extracts readings from photographs of meters, eliminating manual errors and accelerating data updating.
2. Generative symptom assistant: in addition, during the reporting of an incident, the system suggests possible symptoms according to the type of asset, helping the operator to describe the problem more precisely.
3. Generative assistant for diagnostic actions: another of its incorporated advantages is that it suggests possible diagnostic steps based on the symptoms and the type of equipment, guiding the technician from the first moment.
4. Generative assistant for corrective actions: facilitates the standardization of good practices. How? Based on similar cases, it proposes actions that are usually carried out to resolve similar incidents.

Beyond improving efficiency, these tools increase the quality of the information recorded and the speed of resolution.

Having Understood the Present, What Future Awaits Us with AI in Ultimo?

While we have been able to observe that Ultimo already conceives AI as another leg of the system, the path towards a more intelligent EAM continues. Along these lines, there are already functionalities in development based on the latest advances in generative AI and artificial vision:

• Extraction of information from technical documents: in other words, the automation of reading and structuring data contained in manuals or equipment data sheets.
• Generation of inspection lists: automatic creation of checklist drafts based on documentation or operational history.
• Drafts of work instructions: drafting of preliminary instructions that include probable causes and suggested solutions.
• Creation of assets through ID plates: from a simple photo of an identification plate, the system extracts them, creates the asset and automatically registers the key data of the same.
• Chatbot with natural language: an integrated conversational assistant to interact with the EAM system in natural language and consult, create or modify information in real time.

(Recover this and much more in the webinar “AI at the service of asset maintenance: revolutionize your daily operations”)

Futuristic promises aside: there is no doubt that artificial intelligence is already part of the present in asset management. At Becolve Digital, through our EAM solution, we are committed to practical innovation that offers concrete results right now, while we move towards a future in which systems understand, assist and propose.