Accelerate machine aftersales business through servitization | Webinar recap

In today’s competitive industrial landscape, the traditional model of simply selling machines is evolving.

The true potential for sustained growth and profitability now lies in the machine aftersales market – ongoing service, maintenance and upgrades.

This often overlooked area holds the key to significant recurring revenue and deeper customer relationships, especially as industrial equipment lifecycles extend far beyond initial expectations.

But how can machine builders and equipment manufacturers transform their aftersales operations from a reactive cost center into a proactive profit engine?

This was the central theme in the recent webinar, “Accelerate aftersales business through servitization.”

Hosted by Dominique Gilles, who leads the Teamcenter SLM business globally, the event brought together a distinguished panel of experts: Aly Pinder, Research VP at IDC; Nanda Chitrala, Senior Director at Salesforce; and Ashish Dubey, Business Development Consultant at Siemens Software.

Together, they explored the immense value of the machine aftersales market, the challenges manufacturers face, and how a strategic partnership between Siemens and Salesforce is bridging critical gaps with cutting-edge technology to drive servitization.

This webinar provides a compelling vision for how companies can unlock recurring revenue, maximize profit margins and differentiate themselves through superior service.

If you’re ready to shift your perspective on service and discover how to truly monetize your installed base, this is a must-watch.

Watch this quick trailer for a glimpse of what you missed:

For the full discussion, watch the complete webinar here.

Machine aftersales market opportunities and the shift to servitization

The webinar started by revealing that machine aftersales revenue can represent two to three times the initial product sale, with profits potentially four times greater than equipment sales.

This highlights the aftersales market as a long-term source of recurring revenue, a critical factor as manufacturers extend product lifecycles.

Aly Pinder, drawing from his extensive experience, emphasized that the machine aftersales market is no longer just about cutting costs. It has evolved into a strategic driver of differentiation, profitability and revenue.

He noted top-performing companies achieve significantly higher revenue and profit margins from services, underscoring the shift from service as a cost center to a profit center with its own dedicated profits and losses.

In the following clip, Aly elaborates on this profound shift, explaining how the focus is moving beyond traditional service models.

This transition requires digital service products like digital assistance, training, consultation and customer portals, all of which are powered by rich, contextualized data from products and assets.

The goal is to deliver these insights at scale, transforming how manufacturers engage with millions of customers daily and turning data into a powerful revenue engine.

Bridging the divide: PLM, CRM and the digital thread

A significant hurdle preventing manufacturers from realizing their aftersales market potential is the persistent disconnect between product knowledge housed within engineering and customer-facing operations.

Nanda Chitrala from Salesforce highlighted this “huge gap” between product organizations and marketing, sales and service teams.

He described how Salesforce has focused on unifying sales and service, but the challenge remains in integrating the entire product lifecycle. From “product-as-designed” to “product-as-manufactured” and finally, “product-as-maintained,” this data remains siloed and separate from one another.

This gap means valuable feedback from the field often doesn’t return to engineering, which hinders continuous product improvement.

In this clip, Aly Pinder highlights the complementary roles of PLM and CRM in overcoming these silos.

Ashish Dubey from Siemens introduced the “digital thread” as the vital solution.

He described the digital thread as a traceable, continuous flow of data connecting every aspect of the product lifecycle from concept and design through manufacturing, service and beyond.

Teamcenter maintains a single source of truth, linking dedicated service bills of material to engineering bills of material, defining spare parts and creating digitally connected service plans.

This ensures any design change automatically impacts relevant service components to enable smooth change management and prevent costly rework. By connecting product data with customer data, the digital thread empowers field technicians with real-time, updated information, drastically improving efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Practical applications: Top use cases for machine aftersales market transformation

For manufacturers looking to pragmatically reinvent their service operations, Ashish Dubey outlined three key use cases that drive immediate and long-term value.

These focus on leveraging the integrated power of PLM and CRM to enhance efficiency, boost revenue and streamline sales processes.

He goes into more detail of these practical applications in the following clip.

In essence, these use cases focus on delivering the right service the first time, transforming service into a revenue driver and ensuring sales quotes are fast, accurate and manufacturable.

This integrated approach, leveraging Teamcenter’s product configurator with Salesforce CPQ, ensures what is sold can actually be delivered, which leads to higher sales productivity and, most importantly, happy customers.

Conclusion: Your roadmap to machine aftersales market success

The “Accelerate aftersales business through servitization” webinar provided a compelling case for transforming machine aftersales operations into a powerful engine for growth and profitability.

The strategic partnership between Siemens and Salesforce, exemplified by the Teamcenter SLM for Salesforce application, offers a tangible roadmap for manufacturers.

By effectively bridging the critical disconnect between engineering and customer-facing teams, embracing the digital thread, and implementing practical use cases, businesses can unlock significant value.

Aly Pinder’s concluding advice resonated strongly: “Start today.”

He emphasized that disruptions are inevitable, and manufacturers must proactively invest in digital transformation to stay ahead.

Customers demand more than just transactions. They seek exceptional outcomes and experiences.

The aftersales market should be viewed not as a cost center but as a key differentiator, a continuous opportunity to engage with customers and deliver value.

This webinar offers a wealth of insights, practical strategies, and a ready-to-deploy solution.

To hear more of these discussions, explore the live demonstrations, and understand how your organization can start monetizing its machine aftersales market today, watch the full webinar.