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Strypes takes an eclectic approach to remote machine management

Paul van Gerven
Reading time: 5 minutes

Strypes is taking the concept of remote diagnostics one step further. Adding remote monitoring and proactive software management to its remote machine handling platform, the industrial automation specialist offers additional opportunities to reduce cost and travel time – the latter being particularly important in the Covid era.

Working for just about every major equipment manufacturer in the Netherlands, Eric Damhuis has seen it time and again: the patchwork of in-house developed software tools that interact with equipment in the field. “Let’s say a malfunction needs to be diagnosed. It’s typically a time-consuming task to gather the required information, rooting through different databases. So people write a tool to make their lives easier. In fact, they would probably quit their jobs if they weren’t allowed to do that,” says the sales director of ICT Group subsidiary Strypes.

While such makeshift tools are extremely useful for, say, a service engineer to do his job, on a higher level they pose a problem. “If you let these tools sprawl, you’ll lose control. At some point, very few people will know which tool to use in any given situation. Or how to use it. In that respect, things become opaque, requiring a steep learning curve to master. Not to mention the maintenance nightmare you bring upon yourself,” Damhuis explains.

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