Oden Launches Partnership Program for Machinery OEMs

Oden Technologies has hired Steve Braig, formerly of Engel and Trexel, to act as VP of business development and launch the partner program globally. The company said in a release that the partner program for manufacturing equipment makers will help them to re-imagine customer aftermarket service and differentiate their equipment.

“Historically equipment sales have had a very transactional sales model,” Braig told Plastics Technology. “There’s a lack of continuing long-term customer interactions. Most equipment makers look at client-acquisition costs; they spend a lot of money developing new customers and selling machinery but typically don’t stay engaged.” 

Braig said Oden has ongoing pilot programs with multiple machinery OEMs, initially targeting primary processing equipment and downstream equipment manufacturers, with non-disclosure agreements in place.  

“We are in advanced discussions with several machinery OEMs,” Braig said. “All of them have pilots going where we have connected the platform to their machinery, and we’re in the process of defining what the real scope of what that integrated solution is.”

Braig said the company hopes to have several machinery manufacturers with Oden’s platform integrated into their product offering launched by the end of this year, with Oden’s platform integrated into their product offering so that these new machines will be sold with predictive maintenance functionality embedded in, changing the supplier customer relationship and the nature of service.

“The service model to this point is largely reactive—wait until the user contacts the machine manufacturer and requests service,” Braig said. “It‘s almost like your relationship with your doctor—you see the doctor when you have a problem, but a better healthcare model is more preventative; an ongoing relationship so you prevent or halt problems in the first place.”

Oden says its predictive analytics can be applied to monitoring critical machine components and sub-systems of production, delivering real-time insights into the inner workings of equipment and predictive maintenance post-sale.

“The equipment maker stays engaged with the equipment,” Braig said. “They can alert and know about problems before they materialize and take the necessary actions to prevent unplanned downtimes. Unplanned downtime is still the main disruptive element on manufacturing floor.”